Posted On Thursday, January 15th, 2009 By David Veatch
Slightly off-topic post today, but this is, or could be, a rather pressing matter, and I’d like both to record the timing of it, and submit a request for thoughts and ideas. 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 more »
Posted On Monday, September 8th, 2008 By David Veatch
Since I moved into my house, I’ve had troubles with the sliding door in to the back yard. It started out difficult, got exceedingly difficult, improved a little with some cleaning, and finally got impossibly difficult. I’ve actually found my shoulders sore from the effort of opening it. I work out. I’m not unused to lifting. Sore shoulders from opening a frickin’ door is ridiculous. So, a few weeks ago we went to Home Depot and set in motion the replacement of the old and busted door with the new hotness that is a new insulated door that… get this… actually slides easily back and forth!! I thought briefly about going for french doors, or just a single swinging door, but for cost, convenience and general personal aesthetics, went with the sliding option. Duder comes over tomorrow morning to get it installed. I cannot wait!
Posted On Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 By David Veatch
This weekend marks the second weekend in a row we’ve held a garage sale. I’m going to count it as a nearly complete success. Most of the large items we wanted to peddle away have been, and those that remain will very likely go on Craig’s List or eBay without too much trouble. It’s been a lot of work, but we’ve got hard cash in hand now and open garage space. Everybody wins!
Posted On Monday, June 16th, 2008 By David Veatch
I’d love to say this weekend was relaxing, but I seem to be having a hard time finding anything relaxing at the moment. I won’t go through the laundry list of things on my mind (including – but certainly not limited to – laundry), but it’s a pretty hefty load. It’s really quite minuscule compared to what others are experiencing, or have experienced, but it’s mine, and like any other white, middle-class male, I have no sense of real hardship or struggle, so little things piled up sometimes get to me. Enough of that. Friday night was spent, at least in part, preparing for the garage sale that would span Saturday and Sunday. In addition to that, I spent it preparing for another epic training/endurance ride. I don’t remember much of Friday, so let’s move on… Saturday morning arrived much too soon. We got up at 07:30. On the agenda was moving the copious amounts of flotsam and jetsam for sale out of the garage and onto the driveway, pricing what hadn’t yet been, and getting cash from the bank for change. That done, I had to get a good breakfast, go over the Torelli, get together all the stuff more »
Posted On Friday, June 13th, 2008 By David Veatch
Late notice, but we’re having a garage sale this weekend. Lots of stuff that Absolutely Must Go!! Come by if you’re local and want to sift through what we got. Among the items is a home gym, a washer/dryer pair, lots of clothes, some smaller televisions and a stand, and various odds and ends of the sort you, yourself, will probably put in your own garage sale before long. As for where we live, here’s a hint… I start at home when I leave for work on my daily bike commutes…
Posted On Monday, April 28th, 2008 By David Veatch
Yet another weekend has come and gone with little in the way of riding. At this rate, I won’t even make it up the first pass. Saturday was about cleaning the house, putting stuff out to the curb for the bi-annual free trash pickup day, and relaxing in front of the television. The GF was amazed at how many people drove around the neighborhood with trucks and trailers waiting to see what people would put out on their lawn. It’s dumpster diving on steroids. We had a spare mattress and box spring that we had no use and no room for. They were nice, but they were the least of what we had, and they were taking up room we needed for other things. Out to the front lawn they went, and maybe 30 minutes later, they were strapped to the top of a van, on their way to a good home. I love free trash pick up day. I did get on the rollers for about 50 minutes on Sunday. Laid them out in front of the television and rolled to a BtVS episode. Hush, to be exact. It wasn’t an epic ride, by any means, but it got more »
Posted On Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 By David Veatch
My Big Ring streak continues, but this morning wasn’t a hammerfest, much less a slamhammerfest. See, at some point on Sunday, I developed quite the seemingly random, out of the blue infection on my right shin. At first I thought it was a spider bite. It swelled my shin to mammoth proportions and had the general look of a bite, plus the pain I would associate with same. For most of Sunday I was a slightly feverish and generally out of it. It was bad enough, in fact, to keep me up most of Sunday night and home yesterday. I did not sit completely idle, however, I took advantage of the freedom allowed by VPN, and hit the doc up for some meds between work related tasks. Since Saturday was spent helping the GF clean up her old apartment to expedite the retrieval of her security deposit, and Sunday was spent feeling generally lethargic, there was no riding for me this weekend. No riding this weekend translates to an easy pace into work this morning. What I/we/she did accomplish, aside from finding health issues to deal with, was give her old apartment a good thorough cleaning, pack the remaining items more »
Posted On Saturday, April 12th, 2008 By David Veatch
Last night I took the long route home again. I wasn’t sure if I was going to when I set out, but at the do-or-die point (83rd and Quivira), I decided to do. The way there was a constant battle against 10+mph headwinds. Coming out of the NW, there was no way I was going to avoid it. My average speed, typically up in the 14-16 range, dropped to the 11-13 range. It was tough going… but unlike many previous rides where I cursed the wind, I welcomed it. Head down, I welcomed the fight. The more resistance the better as I struggle and claw my way towards the Triple Bypass. The moment came, and the deciding factor was the wind. I wasn’t going to have an entire ride home against this kind of wind. It was going to work for me for a while. I turned back into the wind at 83rd and Quivira with the promise of tailwinds in a few miles. The neighborhoods from the Resurrection Cemetery up to Lackman and back around to the Happy Hunting Country Club are all your typical upper middle class suburbs. Nice, to be sure, and well maintained, but lacking either more »
Posted On Thursday, April 10th, 2008 By David Veatch
I opted to drive to work today. I had a presentation to give at 7:30, and would have had to get up earlier than normal to get in and cool off in time to not be gross to the audience. Also, I was up late last night at Pool League. Also, I expect my new contacts to arrive today and would like to pick them up without having to take an extra hour to do so. Also, I want to take my phone in and have it repaired b/c it’s face is a little broken. Enough also’s. The upshot is that I got to within 184 miles of my target mileage yesterday for the first time since mid February, and today will see me back up in the upper 190′s again. With the weather appearing to slide into the nasty for the weekend, I may have some climbing to do again to get back below 200. We shall see. It might really be time to break out the rollers and get the indoor mileage gauge working. The GF will be proud of me if I do. I just need to find a place to put it now. Things are a more »
Posted On Sunday, April 6th, 2008 By David Veatch
This morning was a busy morning. I got up and had a cup of coffee, and then wasted no time before heading to the garage and the yard, to work on the bikes. On the Kona: Replaced the old knobby tires with new Continental Town & Country 26″ X 2.1″ tires. Win. I cannot wait to try them out in the morning. Still, there’s a part of me that hopes with a fervor that they don’t explode or get a flat within minutes of their maiden voyage. The old tires and tubes had been around for so long that they’d nearly melded together like the rear end of some woman stuck to a toilet after two years of sedentary bathroom life. Cleaned the drive train with a toothbrush and some degreaser. Win. It’s a wonder that thing shifted at all with all the caked on gunk on the RD cogs. Amazing. Adjusted the fenders a bit. Win. It looks better… if it’s possible to make “geek” look “better.” On the Torelli: Tightened the rear brake against the seat stays in an attempt to eliminate a pesky creaking that comes with every crank revolution under stress. I don’t think it worked, more »