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?

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!

Everybody wins!

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 I’d need for a long day on the saddle, and get myself on the road. With the TBP fast approaching, I have to get all the good miles in that I can. I’m feeling the pressure.

In short, I did so, and it was a great ride. My route, available on mapmyride.com for ease of exporting to my Garmin Edge, proved to be fantastic, as I knew it would. I’ve ridden every foot of that route, but never in this particular configuration. Normally I’ll head to Lawrence via 24/40 and come back via K32, or I’ll head out from Olathe, and come back via the same route. This time I did one big loop, heading out 24/40 to Lawrence, and back via country highways south of K10 and into Olathe, where I picked up the roads I learned on the Spring Classic ’08 route.

The way out was noteworthy only in that I took fewer breaks than I normally do, and had a mild to brisk headwind nearly the whole way out. Arriving in Lawrence, I was most pleasantly surprised to find a friend actually at home. Until Saturday, I was 0 for 2 catching her at home. We sat and chatted in her living room, giving me a chance to have a bite, rest the legs, and catch up with a bit of her life.

As I left her place, I was looking forward to having a tail wind, but it wasn’t to be. It wasn’t that the wind switched… on the contrary, it just died out there, so I had neither tail nor head wind. All things considered, it certainly could have been worse. I wasn’t complaining then, and I’m not complaining now. At least not about that.

It is with no small amount of irony that I report that the most noteworthy part of the ride back into the KC Metro area was being passed by an old style roadster driven by an older blond woman. There was a triple take on that one. I’ve always been a fan of that style of car, and would someday really like to have one for lazy Sunday drives around a lake somewhere. I imagine by the time that desire becomes reality, cars will be powered by small nuclear reactors and only touch tire to road when at rest.

By the time I got home, just over 90 miles and 6 hours later, the sale was packed back into the garage and the doors closed. Fortunately, the GF had help in the form of our next door neighbors as well as a friend of hers from Lawrence. I felt more than a little bad leaving her alone, but she assured me that she understood the need for miles. When I found out for sure that she had company, I rested much easier. The rest of the evening was spent on the couch watching the idiot box and counting the money we’d made. Almost $300 for a bunch of stuff we just wanted to get rid of. Not bad at all.

Sunday was in part a repeat of Saturday, at least for the GF. I didn’t get out and ride again, having developed quite a need for a rest day. Instead, we moved the for-sale contents of the garage onto the driveway, and started immediately in on the rum & cokes (or rum and RCs, as the case was). We had about $50 worth of business before the storm clouds rolled in furiously from the north, and at just after noon, we called it. It was dead as it was, and with no customers, there was no need to keep things open. I drove around and gathered up the signs, and we contemplated what to do with the rest of the day. Home Depot and Target played small roles, as did the idiot box, and a couple of movies.

This morning, I rode the Kona on account of the threat of rain. I rode sans lighting because I couldn’t find my light battery in the chaos that is our post-garage sale homestead. Furthermore, when I got here, I realized I had no shoes. Somehow, they’d all made their way back home last week, and I forgot to pick them up. Hilarity.

Ah, Monday…

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…

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 me worked out. The motionbased.com activity is pretty funny. If you look at the map, you’ll see what looks like me frantically darting around the house and across the street for an hour.

Recumbum has finally passed me on bikejournal.com. I’m really going to have to step it up. ;)

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 and transport them to my overflowing garage and basement,
• rearrange said garage and basement to make room for the GFs’ (much nicer) washer and dryer,
• set up the Cat Genie in the basement bathroom,
• install and enjoy Lazarus, a Dungeon Siege total mod,
• gobs of loads of laundry, and
• make it through seasons 1, 2 and part of season 3 of BtVS.

Sunday night and last night I really didn’t get that much sleep. This infection on/in my leg causes a fairly consistent and constant low level ache accented by moments of sharp pain. That makes for the tough time sleeping. I’m pretty sure today will *not* be a decaf day. Regardless, I’m back up in the 230′s for my mileage deficit, so tonight I pick things back up again with the long way home. Pain or no.

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 the character of the rougher neighborhoods, or the more inspiring architecture of the upper crust locales. Still, it’s a very nice change of pace from the merciless position jockeying type of traffic you’ll find on the main arteries. I welcome the vanilla blandness.

The promise of the wind is kept as I turn east on 71st Terrace. Though the hills are brutal in their grade, they’re short and to the point. The wind helps, but not enough to nudge my average speed significantly in the upward direction. I count every foot of elevation climbed as a foot towards Colorado, and stick hard and with conviction to the hammer ring. I decided when I set out that I was going to continue the big ring streak, and though the wind tried my resolve, I stuck to it.

Tired, but not exhausted, I pulled into my driveway with an overall average of 13mph and moving time of an hour and 10. 10 minutes waiting at lights made for an hour and 20 on the road. Opening the garage door, I am greeted with the familiar site of piles and piles of boxes waiting to be unpacked and sorted. The results of moving the GF in. The wind just doesn’t seem to let up, does it?

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 touch crowded, and will be until we have our garage sale.

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, but knowing what it is, I’m not worried about it. Lose. I’ll have to talk to my mechanic again about it and see if he can explain what he did to fix it last time.
Cleaned the drive train with a toothbrush and some degreaser. Win.
Found and straightened the kink in the chain that happened yesterday when the chain fled the RD. Win.
Adjusted the FD to shift easier onto the big ring. Win. This took a few really short test rides around the neighborhood to get right.
Adjusted the RD to shift not-so-much off the big cassette cog. Win. As with the FD, this took a few really short test rides around the neighborhood to get right.

Meanwhile, the GF was rearranging the kitchen and hall closets to better make use of the relatively small space we’re both living in now. She unpacked a few boxes as well, and started separating “Keep” and “Sell” stuff into appropriate piles.

All in all, a very productive morning.

After that, it was off to the pool hall to work on our games. In the vein of preventative maintenance, there is nothing like time at the table to help keep the game in order. We played a couple games of Straight Pool, the first to 40 and the second to 50. We’re starting slow.

Then it was getting the taxes done in order to prevent the IRS from coming down on us. My refund is pretty fat this year. Not sure exactly what I’m going to use it for, but I see debt reduction in the near future.

Between all of the above activities, we unloaded a box here and a box there that had gathered in the moving of the GF from Lawrence to here, thereby preventing the house from becoming and staying a cluttered, box-ridden mess.

Yay for preventative maintenance!

We spent way too much time (and money) at The Home Depot, but we got quite a bit accomplished. Some of the most difficult areas have been boarded in. Their odd angles and strange corners were no match for our mastery. Now, all we need do is buy the trim to cover up all the gaps between the boards. Some of that we acquired at The Home Depot for to play with, but we need a lot more.

For the area above the foundation, we were going to try to use some sort of blown insulation, but we couldn’t find anything that was cheap and easy. So we were going to use fiberglass insulation, but that stuff itches like the dickens. Instead, we went with “Green” newspaper clipping insulation. That’ll go up today, tonight, or tomorrow. Then we’ll finish out the walls around the windows and will be about 2/3 of the way done with the walls.

I still love how the ceiling turned out.

We still need to board in the bike alcove, and the outside of the basement bathroom. I’d like to find an insulation solution for the area around the furnace, but that might be on the garage side, rather than the basement side (the furnace is in a little room nestled between the two, with access via the garage).

We’re still not sure what to do about one wall. We want to build a bar on that side of the room, but we need to plan ahead for water and drainage lines. Plumbing is not my thing, so I’m going to have to do some research before even starting on that wall.

The only mishap was me smashing my finger against the foundation while prying out the old shelves. I saw stars, but kept my cool. It’s a little black and blue today, but I might not lose it. A small price to pay for adding an entire room’s worth of living space to the house.

So, Sweetie took the initiative and brought the AC guy out to look at things. I’m still unemployed and don’t feel I can afford the expense. She got tired of being uncomfortable and waiting for me to get employed (thus able to afford the expense) and took it upon herself to take care of it. Too Much Money later, and we have a fully functioning AC unit again!

Seems that the AC unit grill outside was all clogged up with dirt and dust (natural, given the dirt and dust outside). It also seems that the A-Coil was all clogged up with dust (which became mud) on account of there being no filter installed. Yeah. I know. Home Owner Gaffe. Hush. There wasn’t a filter b/c there was never a filter. The previous owner… wasn’t the sharpest tack in the box, and never installed one himself. Without that filter, all the dust from inside the house clogged up the A-Coil, which didn’t allow air to flow. Without airflow, the freon couldn’t warm properly in the AC unit outside, thus causing freezing on the lines, exacerbating the problem. The freezing, combined with the lack of air flow, plus the barely reduced temperatures inside, all told us that something was wrong. Fortunately, the damage, while considerable, wasn’t as bad as it could be.

I’ll just have to pay Sweetie back later when I can afford to. Now, I have cool air flowing through the house, a filter to install when the furnace dries out from the cleaning.

See, when they installed the original (heavy gauge, by the way) pipe, they installed it with permanency in mind. That’s all well and good, but the pipe was crimped and waaaay to short. In order to replace it, I had to start in early on taking the ceiling tiles in the basement out, as well as cut into a cabinet near the floor so I could reach in and feed the pipe through. That’s why the saw. I would have patched the pipe and just lengthened it, but… well, I didn’t think about it until later. I don’t even know if it’s realistic and/or possible. It was crimped pretty near the cabinet, so I’d have had to cut a hole anyway, just to get enough room to attach and extend.

All in all, an interesting Saturday. I’m looking forward to having ready-made ice and cold water. I’m also looking forward to tearing out the rest of the ceiling to see what’s up there. I’m thinking, at least at this point, that I’ll just leave the bare wood and support beams, and paint them black. Later I may go back with some tiles or a ceiling, but that’s a few projects down the road.

Last week, during all this, my lawn needed mowing… badly. I just didn’t feel up for it, though. With timing that almost speaks to the supernatural, two neighborhood kids come by and offer to mow the lawn for $10. What wonderful fortune! I agree, at which point they ask if they can use my mower. Heh. Go figure. No matter, I let them at it, and pay them $20 for their trouble.

They’ve come by three times since wanting to mow it. Seems they figure me and my lawn an easy source of money, and want to milk it for all they can. I really can’t blame them for it… they’re young, and I remember doing exactly the same thing when I was their age… didn’t work for me any better than it’ll work for them, though.

The previous owner of my house, in keeping their promise to repaint the interior, did so. But they did an absolutely abhorred job. It’s terrible. They didn’t trim in the ceilings except for a couple of places, and splashed paint on fixtures here and there. The best part though (note the sarcasm) is how they dumped their excess paint down the kitchen and bathroom sinks! Isn’t that grand? The brand new, gorgeous deep stainless steel sink in the kitchen had white paint drops all over it, and the drains are stained. The sink in the bathroom is nigh unusable, due to the fact that it takes over an hour for it to drain.

I’m sure it’s entirely possible to carry more stupidity around on one’s shoulders, but the previous owner is already carrying around quite a load. I’ve called him and requested he send a plumber out to take stock of the situation. I’ve the name of my own which I’ll call if (when) I don’t hear from the previous owner for an estimate.

Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable.

Right now I’m just very tired. I think the mad rush of the last three months is catching up with me… and with so much left to do on the house to get it where I want it.

I’d like to say it was a great night’s sleep, but I really can’t. It always takes me a while to acclimate to a new place, be it a friend’s I’m staying over at for the first time, or a new house. I don’t imagine it’ll take long.

In addition to the "New Place" factor, it stormed quite loudly last night, waking me up around 5:00am with the lightening and the thunder and the rain slapping the windows (I really need to replace the storm windows in the bedroom… right now their just screens. That == rot).

The final element contributing to my relatively restless night was the fact that the AC thermostat broke off in my hand yesterday. That was the second time I adjusted it. Didn’t take long, did it? I going to replace it with one of those programmable ones from Home Depot. That way, the house won’t be freezing when I wake up.

All in all, however… It was extremely cool!

Then there’s the issue of the car. I don’t know for sure what the damage is, but it’s likely that it’s totalled. I rear-ended someone in the rain two days ago. One half-second of having the eyes off the road and it’s a world of inconvenience. No one was hurt, including the other guy’s freakin’ Ford Focus, but my front end is crushed beyond recognition. I’ll find out today what the story is, and if it is totalled, I think I’m going to look at a new Saturn ION-3 Quad Coupe, and use the insurance payout for down payment.

Last week I was presented with a new Kenmore Elite refrigerator and a new Kenmore radiant glass top stove. I got them cheap from the Sears Outlet Store here in KC, and saved about 43% off retail. The only thing I was worried about was being able to get a warranty on new-but-slightly-damaged goods. The stove has a dent in the side, and the fridge has a scuff on one of the plastic pieces. There was no cause to worry though, b/c a full warranty was available for both of them, which I promptly bought. They’re in the kitchen right now, waiting to be put to use. I did try out the stove, and was absolutely amazed at how quickly the coils lit up. Compared to all other electric stoves I’ve seen, this bastard is quick. Boo Ya.

Yesterday my bed and mattress were delivered. The mattress came ok, but the bed had a broken piece… what came of it, that is. One piece was broken, and two other critical pieces were missing entirely. I placed a few calls to Benchmark, where I bought it, and they assured me they were working on it as fast and thoroughly as they could. Today they delivered the rest and set it all up for me. Can I get another Boo Ya?

Then there’s the whole issue of getting copper piping to the refrigerator to supply the ice maker with water. Turns out it’s a good thing I intended to rip out all the ceiling tile in the basement anyway, b/c that’s what I’m going to have to do in order to get to the point of origin on that pipe. Well, not the entire ceiling, but enough of it to justify (to my mind) just ripping it out and starting over. I don’t like the tile, and I don’t like the faux wood paneling on the walls. It’s got to go. And so it will. It’ll be my first true Home Improvement Project… and it’s got me a bit excited. I should be taking pictures, but since I don’t have a camera, and don’t want to bother with scanning non-digital photos, I probably won’t. You’ll just have to rely on my mad descriptive skillz, yo.

So, what we’re going to do is either get all the repair moneys in escrow, or proof of work with certified reciepts, and get in writing that all the remaining work will be done by Memorial Day. It’s a little edgy, but we don’t have that many other options. They need out, I need in, there’s a lot left to do, and they simply don’t have the time. Frankly, that’s fine with me, b/c it means that instead of shopping around for big appliance and crap, I can spend a little time out in the sun and riding this weekend… maybe even mow the lawn (at the old house, not the new).