Happy Holidays

Hello everyone. Hope that people aren't checking out my blog on christmas or anything... but who knows, there are crazy people out there who are even more loserish than I.

Anyways, hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. I've discovered a few things so far this season...

1) TVs can never be too big, or too pretty (SXRDs are freaking sexy)
2) Kids are loud, and you can't hit them to make them shut up.
3) Travelling around x-mas is one of the stupidest things I've ever done.
4) It is good to spend time with family despite numbers 2 & 3.

So that is about it. Hope everyone has had wonderful times with their family.. got fat loot from relatives.. and learned that your family is as crazy as you always thought.. I now I've experienced at the last one.

Later

Liz is the best!

So my battery died last night. Pain in the ass let me tell you. So Liz came over and jumped my car. I drove it around for a bit.. but when I parked again, the battery was dead again. So, this morning Liz drove me to the auto-center and I bought a new battery.. but actually Liz bought it since I'd forgotten my wallet. So I get back, put the battery in.. but the posts were reversed on this battery. So i put it in backwards since it would still work that way.. attached the positive post.. and then the negative cable wouldn't reach the post. So I had to undue everything.. reposition some wires.. and finally got everything reattached. And my car turned on. So hopefully this won't happen again for quite some time. Stupid cars not working. I don't want to deal with crap breaking.. nor do I want to buy a new car. Well actually, I think a new car would be cool.. but not really necessary at this point in my life. Perhaps if I get a nice fat raise.. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Ok, I'm going to go now.. and remember people.. if you need someone to buy you a new car battery.. Liz is totally there for you.

Later

Best fortune ever

So Liz and I went to Pei-Wei the other night.. and, as is our tradition it seems, we had a few fortune cookies each. In the last one of the night I got the best fortune I think I've ever gotten.

It is impossible to please everybody. Please yourself first.

And for all those people that place an "in bed" afterwards, well that just makes it all the better.

Just thought I'd share this with everyone.

Later

update..

So honestly, not much has happened since I last posted. I rode up Petit Jean on sunday.. my knees are sort of sore. We rode farther than I was planning but I survived. Petit Jean kicked my ass something fierce, and it was embarassing when the sag wagon had to ride its brakes up the hill so as not to run over me. Clearly I'm out of riding shape.. so I need to start riding in the evenings again. Hill repeats on river mountain start tomorrow night.. who's with me? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Got a few trips coming up which I'm excited about. I'm quite excited about Chicago and hoping to climb to the top of Sears Tower using the stairs. Don't know if it is going to happen (security and the such) but I've made inqueries and hope to be able to do this. 110 stories.. that would be sweet.

Tower Running sounds like a lot of fun, though insane if you ask me. Now, I'm all about exercise.. but running flat out up dozens of flights of stairs just seems excessive. Would I ever consider trying it? Of course.. would I train for it and race in it? God no. Seems like a good way to ruin your knees. And I like my knees.

Anyways, that is all I've got a the moment. I'm not taking finals like most of my friends, Liz and I went out last night and she cut herself in Pottery Barn. So if you are buying a paring knife from there.. first, they are really sharp.. second make sure to wash it before use. Just so you know.

Ok, that's it.

Later

Tight Math

Of course I haven't come up with this idea on my own. Since when have I had an original thought in anything? In the age of instant communication, 400 tv channels (I think I'm underestimating here) and the websphere it is highly likely that any thought you will ever have has already been had be someone else... posted on a webforum or youtube clip and read/seen by thousands of boring office workers that have nothing better to do then read all the comments after the local news article from Podunksville, ND. And let me tell you, reading online comments from small regional newspapers is always grand. If the town has a population of ~1000 there is a good chance that the people posting know the meth-smoking, convience store robbing, foot pursuit victim who got tazered to death by the local cops on page 6 of the paper.. and if that made page 6 imagine what amazing story made page 1 (if you guess weather information and wal-mart hours, then you'd be right).

Anyways, Tight math. Put simply, the number of cheap fake knock-off accessories a woman owns is directly proportional to the number of children she has. For instance, if a woman is wearing a cubic zirconia, carrying a fake Prada purse and sporting a knock-off Louis Vuitton scarf then it can be understood why she is dragging three kids through the Dollar Tree. Makes sense though doesn't it? Of course there is always the chance of twins, so if a woman is wearing 2 pieces of "wanna-bling" and has three kids, an age check has to be preformed. If the age check fails and the three kids have distinct ages, then it can be concluded that she merely can't wear all the crap bought from the back of a van at once.

Ok, I'm out.

Later

Wigu is back!

Check out this link for more brilliance from the mind of Jeffrey Rowland. Yes, I consider him a genius. If you doubt me, go read through the original strip.

Later

WTF?

This made me laugh so hard.

Achewood

This is a shameless plug for Achewood but I really got a kick out of today's comic. Head on over and take a gander. Mr. Bear is brilliant.

Later

Climbing

Went to the climbing gym last night and just sort of messed around for a bit. Crap I'm out of shape. My fingers feel completely dead today and typing has been proving to be its own inconvinence. But surprisingly my forearms are utterly destroyed like my fingers, so I guess the new hand-grippers that I got have been doing something. But still.. my crimping power is completely gone.

I wish there was enough time in the week to persue all the activities that interest me. But alas, there is not.

Later

Excellent..

haha.. bitches.

Later

In need of advice...

Here is the situation. I walk into the bathroom to use it. I hear a toilet flush as I walk through the door. The bathroom is only occupied by one individual who is in the farthest stall. As I take care of business at the urinal the toilet flushes again. Finally as I'm washing my hands the toilet flushes a third time.

Should I ask if he needs help? Leave without saying anything? Or make some smartass remark prior to leaving? Call the facilities servicemen and inform them of a problem? Pull the fire alarm. I choose option 2, but from the way it sounds option 5 probably would have been the most humourous. Alas, I'm just not that cool.

Question the second:
If you were in the situation that the unknwon gentleman is in, and the fire alarm went off, what would you do?

Later

Excellent

As republican Dick Armey said: "we suffered, as we call it down in Texas, a thorough butt-kicking." (note: he might have said whooping)

I normally hate politics, but it is interesting to see America's dramtic shift in views regarding the current state of affairs in the world. Also, congrats should go to the people of Missouri for protecting stem-cell research, always nice to see progressive science approved by the masses.

Later

hehe

Screw "Snakes on a Plane".. give me "Monkeys on a Ship!"

sorry

I've been neglecting my blog.. sorry.

Liz and I watched Short Circuit yesterday at her place. Ahh, the times when robots were attempting to make pancakes rather than melting faces. I'm so glad times have changed. Also, sources informed me (ok, so Liz is my source, but she was reading from a website) that originally Short Circuit was going to be a dark movie where #5 ran around extracting revenge on the humans attempting to capture him. But they revised the script to make it more family orientated. Also, whoever played the girl in that movie was a terrible actress.

Ok, I'm out

Later

hehe

Freaking brilliant!

Later

This caught my eye

Was surfing around, and you may have already seen this, but I thought you might enjoy it. I personally have always hated these damn things. I don't think I've ever won anything from one ever. I know, I'm a loser... but at least I never climbed into one.

Later

Epic ride

Well 300 miles in two days proved to be too much for me and I had to call it after the first day. My knees failed me, the incredible calf cramp where I was sitting at a gas station in some dinky down and suddenly screaming, and the fact that another 150 miles of hills would have been just too much. I'm still pleased I got through the first day though, climbed to the highest point between the Appalachians and the Rockies (at least according to the people I was with.. I was much too tired to think if they were right or not... though 2 seconds on Google just proved them correct), and generally had a great time with the guys. Wish I had had the stamina to do both days... but sometimes knowing your own limits is important too. Hopefully there will be some good pictures of us riding and I'll attempt to post them here. There should hopefully be a couple of really good ones, one of the sag drivers is a really good photographer and he was snapping a lot of shots of us climbing up mountains etc. Also, Blake was carrying a camera in his pocket and snapped a few ones, including one of us screaming down a hill. He took the picture one handed, while staying tucked.. how he did it, I don't know.

Ok, enough ramble for one post.. going to get back to work. And you guys are much to mean to Niki.. if anything it was Niki and her boy falling out of bed together to cause the earthquake.

Later

Earthquake

Don't know if anyone heard about the earthquake that happened near Kona on sunday morning. But it was a 6.6 and rattled the house I was staying in quite badly. Also all the power on all the islands was turned off for safety or something like that.

Anyways, so we stayed inside all day playing cards. It was raining hard that day so we couldn't really do anything anyways. But yes, it was sort of exciting. Sucked for flying the next day since most flights were cancelled on sunday, so the flights monday were extra packed. This fact allowed me to get a free upgrade to first-class though so I'm ok with it.

But yes, Hawai'i was fun. Got some good snorkelling in, lots of beach time and really what else does one need to do over there. It was fun and it sucks to be back at the office today.

So yeah, that's about it.

Later

Hawai'i

Hawai'i is fun. I'll post more about it when I get back.

suckers..

Later

Lunch adventures

Went out to lunch with my team from work. It was fun, food was good; basically we just mocked each other the entire time. Fun times indeed.

Since I rode my bike I rode with some others to the place. The driver needed to run to the local Christian Bookstore to pick up some new CD or something or other. I wasn't really paying attention. Anyways, myself and another guy (catholic) were wandering around the store mocking the things and just making asses out of ourselves. Perhaps giving me free time to roam a Christian bookstore isn't a good idea. Anyways, the point is, when she was getting ready to check out we saw a table of "close-out" items with a sign notifying shoppers that there were no refunds. I was sort of taken back by this, because even Jesus forgives.

Later

Back from Boston

Ok, I've returned from Boston. In one piece despite American Airlines' attempt to kill me flying in and out of Chicago. Stupid windy city.

Anyways, rode 100+ miles yesterday. First time I've done that. Yes, it hurt... but I finished, with a decent time (averaged nearly 20 mph) so I'm pleased. Getting a little freaked though for the ~300 miles I'm planning at the end of the month over a weekend.

Well, gotta get back to work.

Later

Boston

Boston rocks.. I like it here. Times like these make me think that I could stand to live in a busy big city. There are fixed gear bikes everywhere... I'd love to fly through traffic like a madman.. though I think the serious road biker in me would scream at not being able to get out and just hammer for hours on end. On the other hand.. I did seem some decked out riders the other afternoon, so I guess I'd just have to get out of the city a litte ways. Hmmm... yeah. So I guess I could handle it if I needed to. Though everything is freaking expensive as hell around here. Would have to make a lot more than what I do now to consider it.

Going to a Red Sox game tomorrow... eat it Niki.. oh yeah.. how did the Cardinals do tonight? Did they suck? I believe they did. Want me to get you a baby blue Sox shirt? They have them.


Later

Gotta watch this.

This is the sort of thing that I always wished I could do with dominos. Mine always sucked though, I didn't own many dominos.

Please watch it.. Stuart, don't get too excited though.

Later

View from work..

So as I was running up the stairs this morning to my floor I happened to look out the window and see some police motorcycles. This was sort of curious.. so I continued to look out and then saw a small group of people running. I then remembered that Dean Karnazes was in town running his 4th marathon in as many days. Dean is currently running 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. I wish I had remembered this before I had arrived at work so as I could have ridden by and said hello while I was coming into work.

Oddly enough he won't be the first individual to complete this. Back in August a man from Mississippi completed his 50 marathon in as many days to help for the gulf coast region. This man got the idea from running 30+ miles a day on the AT and thought he could easily run 50 marathons. Craziness. Even more oddly, I was in New Orleans at the time, and ran in a 3 mile footrace that he also competed in. Yes, that is right. The day prior he ran the Nola marathon course.. woke up that day.. ran a 3 mile race for kicks, only later to drive to Missouri (I think) to run his final marathon. Hardcore to say the least.

Anyways, just thought I'd share that tidbit, and if you are able to go out and show some support when Dean comes running through your state.. go for it. Despite the fact that I think he is insane, still gotta give him respect for running 1300+ miles in 50 days. Damn.

Later

New comic

Don't know if anyone has seen this comic before, I just stumbled across it and have been enjoying the archives a lot. Why? Since I'm a nerd, and I like the simple art.

My favorite so far.

Why? I wish I could do that just once.

Later

HOLY CRAP

The Protector:

Horrid story-line, bad acting, huge plot holes, useless scenes... probably one of the best action movies I've ever seen. The action scenes were jaw-dropping (minus the random extreme sport fight.. still don't know why that was in there,) there was what seemed to be one scene, no cuts, where he just proceeded to kick major ass up 4 flights of stairs. He looked sort of tired after that.

If you like to see people get the shit beat out of them in a variety of ways, see this movie. If broken bones, torn ligaments, and gratuitous pain aren't your cup of tea, this movie probably isn't for you. Seriously, by the end of one scene I was starting feel queasy.. and I also wanted to go back to aikido and twist some arms.

This movie with ruin your shit will simultaneously rocking your face off. Be prepared.

Later

None..

Incompetent people need to be drug out into the street and shot repeatedly and if there aren't enough bullets then dropping cinder blocks on their heads is entirely acceptable.

That is all.

Later

Bricks

I hate bricks, despise them more than just about any other workout. Whoever came up with the idea of running immediately after riding should be shot. But at the same time I enjoy the pain they cause and I know it makes me faster. Which just means I'll probably continue to do brick workouts despite the fact that they suck.

I know, I'm a masochist.

Also, Achewood has another "saddest thing" up.. it is quite good if you ask me, though the retard boy telling a broken egg that when it hatches they will run in a field together is still better I think.

Ok, I'm out.

Later

Funny sights of the day

Driving home I saw:

a guy riding a motorcycle while smoking a cigerette. It was like he was asking to die both a slow and fast death. Hedging his bets I guess.

a porsche cheyenne (sp? the SUV) driving 10 mph slower than the speed limit. Way to waste 70,000 dollars on a car which can't go offroad and then drive it slowly on the road.

a PT cruiser with what looked to be the world's second largest car antenna.. right next to the largest antenna I've ever seen. These were clamped on the car with a variety of large bolts and slabs of metal. They had an amatuer radio operator license plate (like we needed the hint..) When I passed the person I was hoping to see a man with a CB mike in his hand and a trucker mesh-back hat that said HAM RADIO FOR LIFE. Unfortunetely it was a really old woman. Seriously.. these antennae were practically stricking stoplights as she drove under.

That is all..

Later

Missing Links?

Crap, where did all my links go?


-edit
Oh, there they are.

4 pounds

Yeah, four pounds, give or take. This is the average weight that I've lost while running 4-6 miles at lunch daily over the past week or so. So that is roughly 1.8 L of water that I sweating out in under an hour. This isn't taking into account the amount of sweat on my clothes when I return from my runs.

It is a shame Stuart is gone or I'd get him to calculate the flow rate of sweat from my body depending on a given surface area.

Using the Mosteller formula for body surface area I would have 2.06 square meters of skin. Holy crap that seems like a lot.

Stuart, I know you probably are surfing the interweb right now.. so I anticipate the answer sooner rather than later. Get on it!

Later

Funny anecdote

I recently traveled to Shreveport for the Rivercities Triahtlon. It was a good race, nothing spectacular to really talk concerning the race. Rather I shall relate a story about going to a casino the night before.

So a group of 7 of us go to the Horseshoe (I believe that is the one) and two guys want to get in on some texas hold-em. I think that this is one of the stupidest gambling games ever and the only reason anyone thinks they know what they are doing is due to a high amount of cable t.v. being given to this type of show. Also, the fact that you don't have to really bet on two hands and the rest you can just sit and watch, well that might be part of it.

Anyways, I played a blackjack for a bit, learned about the j.t.c.s. That stands for the J.T. Comback Strategy. Basically if you are down 100 bucks, you bet 100 bucks on the next hand in hopes of breaking even on one hand. The 2 times I saw the j.t.c.s implemented they both encountered dealer blackjacks. So, I believe the j.t.c.s actually isn't designed to make you any money, but guarentees the dealer gets a blackjack.

Ok, so the real story. We are all standing around waiting for the two guys to loss there money in the poker room, and some random chick (I know some find this derogatory but trust me calling this woman a chick is being nice) comes up to our group. She sort of breaks the little circle we had going and asks, "Can I have 100 bucks?" Before she even finishes this sentence I'm respond with a curt, "no thanks.." and just kept talking with the guys. She looked a little ticked but was quite determined to get money.. "How about 50 bucks?" This time I was a little more rude and sort of made a shoo-ing gesture and said, "No!" a tad bit harsher. I continued talking to the guys attempting to ignore the rude chick. She sort of mumbles something, and as she walks away says, "I wish I was a dumb bitch.." I can only assume she meant dumb bitches get money from random guys, I didn't really take time to think about all the social consequences of this statement. But she had provided me with an opening, I said quite loudly, "well you sort of are one." At this point she was behind me and I was told gave me quite the look.

I know, not that funny but I don't have much to work with at the moment and I felt like posting. It was quite entertaining, usually if someone is asking for money they offer something in return. But not this girl, she just expected random people to give her large sums of money for, being rude? I'm just not sure. And we were all in pretty ratty clothes so it didn't appear that we were rich or anything. I just don't know. Wierd if you ask me.

Ok, I'm out.

Later

Side of the road..

Took a nice long ride on saturday. Been too long since I've really gotten out and put in some miles. Probably ended up pushing 80 miles but I took the computer off my bike a while back so I'm not entirely sure. I became tired with knowing all the data from each of my ride, obessing about averages and the like just seemed to detract from the ride. I know it is a good training tool but honestly I just want my legs to tell me how hard I am going, not my computer.


Saw a lot of interesting things on the road while riding. Some were the typical; dead raccoon, dead opossum, dead dog, dead cat.. a plethora of shattered and broken armadillos, and there were probably more since I smelled them but didn't actually see them. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the amount of roadkill out there. They are usually back roads that I'm riding and people with extra large pick-ups and too many beers will bring down a devastation upon the heads of the small forest creatures. Do I care? Eh, not really. It is always sad to see a dog with a collar lying in the middle of the road, but I think I've become desensitized to the whole deal.

But I also saw some more things out of the ordinary. First I saw my apartment key.. lying on the road. This occured when I attempted to pull something else out of my pocket, and something metal hit the ground. At first I didn't think anything of it, then about 100 yards later I though, "crap, that was my key.." and I had to turn around and look desperately for it all while attempting not to get hit by a car. Next I saw a pair of scissors. I honestly can't recall ever seeing a pair of scissors on the side of the road. I thought it was odd. The next odd thing I saw was a tiny mouse, I swear he could have fit on a silver dollar with room to spare. Except for his tail which was really long. He was just hanging out just to the right of the white line. I hope he didn't get killed by some car, but my hopes are not high. The last wierd thing I saw was sort of the oddest.

As I was coming back into town I noticed a car parked some ways off the road. Hanging out the passenger window waving was some strange woman. She started hollering at me and waving franticly. I was tired, dehydrated and ready to be home so I just kept riding. I realized a short time later that I could actually make out what she was yelling. She was calling for help. Do I feel bad for not stopping? Of course not. I have no clue what was wrong with her but I highly doubt I could have done anything. Plus, I'm sort of worried about someone taking my bike (this would totally suck.) If something was wrong with her car she could have walked to the road, though it might have been a medical emergency which honestly I wouldn't want to get involved in. Had I been with someone else I might have considered stopping but alone, in spandex, in the middle of nowhere.. I am not stopping to help anyone except for a fellow biker (and only if I approve of the bike they are riding.)

Ok, so those were the things I saw on the side of the road while I rode my bike the other day.

Later

Holy crap

A post, a new post. Everyone protect the soles of your feet since hell must have just frozen over. This might actually be brief but knowing me I'll rambling and rant about stupid things. I'll do my best to not waste your time.

I've gotten around the stupid firewall at work, or at least it appears that I have since it is now allowing me to access blogger.com. So yes, I might start posting more. Hey, it could happen.

Not much has really happened in the last month. Work is going as work tends to go, slowly. But they are sending me to Boston for a week in september for training. Looking forward to that despite the fact that I feel the training will be pedantic and boring. But hey, it'll be something different.

Lots of stuff happened/happening with a bunch of friends but don't feel it is my place to update you on their lives. There are links to their lives on the side of my page though I believe that Lacy hasn't updated in awhile. Sean has a new link which I'll get around to update eventually.

Ok, going to cut this short. I'll try to write some cool, interesting, witty, fun, impressive social commentary in the future. Maybe make it a point to update at least weekly, maybe more. We'll see what happens. I do need something to keep my occupied at work.

Later

Going through life...

A person goes through life pretty much by the seat of their pants. If you sit back and think about it, there really isn't that much we can control. Large events seem to come and go as they please despite all logic, reason and planning. I don't know about the rest of you, but sometimes I lie in bed thinking about some of these things. What if I get in a car accident tomorrow, what if my parents die, what if my bike breaks... etc. These are horrible things as well as other countless ones that sometimes I find myself thinking about in the wee hours of the morning. Just things you don't want to have to deal with; cancer, amputation, flesh-eating virus. Ok, maybe not all of you are as morbid as I am but anyways, I'm just trying to make a point. Everyone probably at some points thinks of things they don't want to happen to them. And to be more specific here for a second, does anyone ever think about stuff they don't want to see? I never want to see a father beat his child, or a man beat hs wife. I don't know what I'd do.. I sometimes think that I might stand there and not do anything, other times I think I would go and try to teach the man a lesson. But yeah, there are countless ones of these too, things I wish I never have to witness or see in my life. So now you are asking yourself... "where is he going with this.." and "what horrible thing did Dave witness that he never imagined seeing.." well I'm getting to that.

So I was at the gym, changing back into work clothes.. and out of no where this huge fat completely naked guy walks right in front of me. I'm seated at a bench putting my shoes on. So. yeah a little taken back. But I just sort of ignored him, I mean.. to each his own, though I'd rather they keep it to themselves. So I proceed to start to put my running shoes and clothes into my bag, getting ready to leave and as I turn to go, get this, the man is applying copious amounts of baby powder to his, well, sack. No other way to say it. And he was using something that looked like what a theather make-up artist would use to put make-up on, you know those big puffy things. I left, a little more dead on the inside then before. This was just one of those things that I never thought about at night... "man, I hope I never have to see a guy powder his scrotum" that just never even came to mind. Anyways, just thought I would share that with everyone.

Later

TANSTAAFL

Oh man, I love that word. What can't it encompass? And also, labels you a total geek. Ahh, being a total geek.. I love being that too.

Anyways, not much going on. The drive to work is a little boring, but I've been listening to a lot of music, so I'm excited that the new Tool album is coming out. I'm sure I will listen to it like crazy after I get it. I don't know why, but I just like listening to the same thing for quite awhile, then switching to something else.

The biking is coming along great. I feel really strong lately and seem to be able to hang with the big legs.. though don't know how long that'll last. We'll see. Been riding a lot, runnin a little though I'm taking a break at the moment since my shin is all funky, hopefully taking a week off running will let it heal enough that I can start getting some serious miles in. Stupid splints.

Ok, well sorry my posts have been so infrequent, and stupid when they are posted. We'll see if I can get better at it. No promises though. Thanks for all the comments, makes me feel loved.

Gotta run..

Later

Bike race..

Had a bike race on sunday. It hurt, a lot. Was doing pretty good for the first lap of 23 miles... and then about 7 miles into the next lap.. PSSHHT.. bike tire goes flat. Didn't have any tubes on me (stupid stupid stupid) and I hadn't given my extra set of wheels to the wheel truck since I couldn't find it before the race (stupid stupid stupid..) so I got to ride the rest of a race in the back of a pick-up.. yeah.. it was fun. Got burned all to hell though.. but first bike race.. I'm pleased. Marked a few breakaways... our team controlled the pack the entire race.. and one of our guys one, and another got third. I never would have been able to win the race.. but I'd have liked to have done more for the team.

Anyways, WoW has me.. Damn you Sean. Also, Joey.. I'm going to be in Tucson the first weekend of June if you want to get together or anything. Already got my tickets and all that jazz. WOOT!

Work is work... luckily I'm a master of killing time since that is basically what I do now.

Brother had another kid... cute little bugger.. takes after his unlce if you ask me. :)

Did a brick work-out (bike-run) today with some of the guys at the shop.. holy crap can they move. I felt I did pretty good.. the run I had was good too.. didn't have my TT bike out there.. but nearly kept up with them on the ol' Roubaix... I'm currently having mixed feelings about it... but perhaps it was just anger from the flat tire.. (stupid stupid stupid..)

Alright, bed time..

Later

Whoa, long break

Hey everyone, sorry it has been so long since I posted. I've gotten a new job wich actually requires me to do work during the day, and also I think they've blocked the Blogger domain name, so I can't access my account while at work. And since I'm quite pleased with my job I don't have much to complain about, which was what this blog was becoming lately. So hopefully this will be a turn around.

About the new job.. I'm loving it. It is a fun place to work, there is a gym onsite which I really like, once I get my work done I can leave, get 19 days off a year (sick or vacation.. either or) so that is really nice. The pay is better, well minus the bonuses... but NO TRAVEL! I work 40 hours a week, that's it. Now I can have weekend plans, a normal training regime.. which is cool since I was really missing that. I've already started riding with people in Conway twice a week.

The job is in conway.. which is boring drive, but my friends are in Little Rock. So I guess it isn't so bad. I can ride in the evenings in conway, and hang in Little Rock with the people when I'm not riding. Plus, I like my apartment and am too lazy to move. Perhaps once everyone here moves away.. we'll see.

Ok, well I'm going to run. A 30 minute drive is much different than the 5 I used to have.. but they don't care when I come in, so it is all good.

Take care everyone..

Later

Ouch

I finished. It hurt more than anything I've ever done. I would take 20 deer crashes to 1 marathon anyday. Actually probably not since I would never be able to replace my bike 20 times. But seriously, it sucked. And I can't wait for my next one. I learned a lot, like... my body doesn't want to run past 17 miles.. I can get really dehydrated from running for 4+ hours... cramps suck... and getting passed by old people who seem to by flying really isn't depressing when one can hardly move. So yeah, the 4 hour goal was quickly forgotten around mile 17. I finished the first half in 1:58.. so that made me happy.. but I couldn't keep it up. But it is ok, I believe that if I train correctly, and regularly for the next one I'll be able to do leaps and bounds better. But yeah... I'm going to go take some more advil and pass out some more. Take it easy..

Later

Oh, you want to know my time.. well I finished under 5 hours. Just barely. And by just barely I mean by a few minutes. Yeah, I know.. depressing, but I finished.

Marathon

So, sunday is the big day. Planning on running the entire Little Rock Marathon. I think it is going to hurt more than any race I've ever done. Due to the crash my training took a big hit but I'm going to try to finish it anyways. I hope for under 4 hours still, though the more I think about it I'm just not sure. That is my goal.. 9 minute miles.. so, I guess only time will tell.

The scabs are coming along nicely. The one on my hip still bleeds every now and again but as of today I'm bandage free. So, about 2 weeks and pretty healed. Not too bad if you ask me.

Alright, back to work. Next friday is my last day then it is time for a new job. I'm very much excited about the lack of traveling and the chances to have weekends to do whatever I want. Also this should allow me to train more at the level I want to. So yeah, can't wait.

Ok, now I really gotta go..

Later

Bike Crash... again.

Well.. I crashed again. Has been quite some time since my last crash. July I think it was, and that one totally wasn't my fault. Rider hit me. And well, technically I believe this one wasn't my fault either. I was riding down Overlook.. you know, that really steep hill by Murray Lock and Dam. Well Sean and I were going to be doing some hill-repeats on monday night. We figured it would be good training for us compared to all the crappy running we've been doing. But yeah.. climbed it, felt good, then turned around and started coming down.

Felt like I was flying.. tucked down in my aero position. Was in my drops, still don't feel comfortable on my top-bar when I'm going so fast. I'm not sure how fast I was going, but I'm pretty sure it was over 40 mph. Yeah, fast.

So then suddenly, there is a brown blur to my left. And by "my left" I mean the brown blur was striking my front wheel. I didn't even see the freaking deer.. it came out of nowhere. Didn't have time to hit my brakes, swerve, tense or anything. Of course, all these things might have been a good thing. So the next thing I remember I'm on the ground trying to get my helmet off. I heard the deer running through the brush to my right then I just felt like I needed to lie down for a bit. Sean arrived a few seconds later, a kind woman allowed us to use her van to transport our bikes to my apartment, then I went to the ER. Got some x-rays and a CT scan since I clearly was knocked out.. but everything was fine. So now I just have some missing skin, but am ok otherwise.

According to Sean when feel my bike basically exploded, both wheels came flying off and then I rolled about a dozen times. I dont' remember that... I remember when sitting in the van asking if my bike was ok and Sean saying "don't worry about the bike" but I wanted to. But I guess I couldn't change what happened. So yeah, the bike is ruined. When the deer hit me, or I hit the deer (don't know which it is actually) it broke my fork and front wheel off my bike.



So yeah, that's my front wheel and the fork, well parts of it at least. When I went down I think the base of the fork struck the deer since there is some deer hair on it.



It is hard to see, but there is some hair there on the side closest to you.. it is the hairy stuff. I imagine after that I flipped over the deer, and probably hit my head first on the ground. Cracked my helemt, then I think my back wheel struck the ground. Popped the back wheel off and I think at that point I came detached from my bike. Broke one of the cleats which hold me on my bike then I probably started rolling.

But yeah, I'm fine. Torn up pretty good. Don't really have an good pictures of the wounds which I would post here. Most of the skin was removed from my upper thigh/ass cheek. It was probably the second part of my body that struck after my rear wheel did. So yeah, don't want to post pictures of my near nakedness.

So I'm taking a few sicks days, I've got enough saved up. I feel pretty lucky that I walked away from this. Well, walk is a nice word for the stumbling I did into the woman's van. I feel asleep in her vehicle while the bikes were being loaded. I know, I know, you aren't supposed to but holy crap it felt so like exactly what I wanted to do. Had a strange dream in the seconds I was out in which I was dreaming about the bike crash. Didn't want to believe it, but felt that I had to wake up and accept it. Wierd.

Anyways, just wanted to post this so everyone knew that I was ok. Sean seemed to be sending around e-mails saying I was in a bike wreck. It wasn't that bad.. do I feel lucky to be in one piece and/or alive? Hell yes.. going 40+ and suddenly having your front fork break.. I probably shouldn't have survived that. Damn.. makes you think right?

Some people are probably going to ask is this going to change how I ride? Am I going to ride my brakes going downhills? Hell no.. this wreck just shows that I'm indestructible. No.. I'll probably keep a sharper eye at dusk for deer and other animals, and I probably will ride my breaks going down hills for a little while, but I imagine it won't last long.

Ok, I'm outta here.. need to go change my bandages.

here are some extra pictures.



I also cracked my top tube, but couldn't get a picture of it. Oh the next picture is kind of cool. The tire is still fully inflated, and there is deer hair between it and the rim. I think that is amazing. I must have tagged it pretty hard. Poor deer. I feel bad.. I mean, the deer doesn't know better. Though at the same time I'm pissed that a deer had the audacity to hit me. Oh well, it is a good reason to crash right? I mean, when cars hit deer it sometimes totals the car, or does a lot of damage. And I hit a deer with my bike and walked away. HA.



Ok, I'm outta here now. Take care people. You never know when a deer might come flying out of the underbrush and nearly kill you.

Later

Ultraviolet

So, the writer and director of Equilibrium has another movie coming out on the 3rd of March. The preview looks slightly stupid, but I have a feeling that it'll be decent enough to spend a few bucks on. Plus, I really like Milla Jovovich despite her recent movies based on a certian video game.

But yeah, just thought I would throw that out there.

Later

Just some links..

Ok, so I've not been working very hard lately. Well.. I've been going to work, but not working. They gave us all new phones, fancy-ass PDA phones. They are complicated and really neat but otherwise a waste of time. Difficult to dial on, heavy, not comfortable when held to one's ear... but totally badass. I've spent three days changing registry settings to make it how I want and putting emulators on it. Joey, this bad-boy can play Quake... yeah that's right.. Quake, and I think I saw a Pocket Quake 2 out there... yes that is right, embrace your jealousy.

Also it has a touch screen.. and speaking of touch screens all you nerds out there need to check this shit out. Throw a Tom Cruise in there and a poorly written screen play on a Phillip K. Dick story and bam... but seriously, I want one. I don't know what I would do with it... but just imagine. I'm so very impressed by this video, maybe they could make an entire video game system where the control was merely on the screen. I hope tablet PCs start using this technology, shit I hope everyone starts using this technology.

And continuing in the vein of badass technology, I found this interesting video. I feel bad that I was not alive, or at least not developed enough, to enjoy this whole debacle. But thanks to Maddox and others I still garner immense pleasure from hearing about the entire situation. For those of you who don't know, watch the video, the google it.. really quite a funny story. And just for comments sake, does anyone think they actually found it?

In other news, probably more relevant to what this site actually is about, I raced this past weekend. It went well. Didn't do spectacular or anything, but it was a duathlon which isn't really my thing. I had a lot of fun hanging out with The Ride guys and I can't wait to train more this season. Oh yes, I'll be training a crap ton more, guarenteed. And I've got some things going on which I'll share with everyone after I find out more this afternoon... stay tuned for more info.

Ok, enough randomness, I'm going to play with my phone and pretend to work a little more.

Later

Random thoughts.. again.

Alright, nothing serious to post today. Though I did come across a pretty nifty article about a bike messenger and a motorist getting into in Canada. Pretty nifty and I'm startled about the heated debate occuring on the page also. It is interesting to read the messengers side of things, pretty gutsy girl if you ask me.

Anyways, I really want to read John Frey's novel, perhaps just to piss off Oprah. Also I find it sort of interesting that since yesterday, A Million Little Pieces has gone up 30 points or so on Amazon's booklist. Very interesting. Perhaps if I write a moving commentary on some fictional thing I could get lots of press, then say it was all a lie, just to acquire more press. They always say that there is no such thing as bad publicity though I have a feeling that anyone who said that never anticipated Oprah coming down on them like a vengeful angel bent on the destruction of your soul. Seriously, this guy is screwed. Just another reason not to screw with Oprah. She'll eat you or something.

I can't seem to get the website about the Motorist V. Courier to load up. So the link may or may not work. It is interesting none the less.

I think the State of the Union address was decent.. simple and unelegent. I'm sure Sean would have a few things to say about it.. if he ever ranted again. Alright.. I'm out.

Later

Just some random thoughts..

Things have been going well for the most part. Just taking it easy, not working too hard, should be training harder, but eh.. winter blues or something. I finally signed up for the Little Rock Marathon yesterday... so that is going to be fun. And by fun I mean terrible. I might as well take a cheese grater to my knees right now. Tendons and cartilidge don't really matter right? All this exercise isn't going to have any long term detrimental effects on my health and well-being right? I assume that since I'm probably going to be in good shape for the rest of my life that that means I'll be healthy and active as an older individual. Sometimes I wonder if I'm going to end up being crippled with horrible arthritis or something similar. Who knows. I'm crossing my fingers (which I hope in 30 years to still be able to do) that nothing bad is going to happen eventually.

Ok, I really need to get some work done.. thinking of leaving early today.. actually I am leaving work early today, so need to be semi-productive for the next 30 minutes at least.

Later

Alabama

So, sitting at a train wreck in the middle of Alabama.. give or take a couple of hundred miles. Don't know if there is really an difference from one part of Alabama to the next, it all seems the same to me. Stuart will recall driving through most of it to go to an Aikido conference, and I think we probably spent some time driving through this state and others our Junior year of college while coming back from Ian's place in Florida. But other than those two times, I can't think of a time that I have wanted to go to Alabama. I mean, what is here to really see? Any ideas? I mean, burning train wreckage, but I could probably see that anywhere if I really tired.

So, planning on doing Frost Your Fanny in Shreveport on the 5th.. then a month from then I want to do the Little Rock Marathon. Having I been training? Of course not. Do I think I can do them both? Maybe. I know I'll be able to do the duathlon, but a marathon.. well.. I'll finish but my time might be pretty crappy. Who knows... it'll be fun right?

Well I need to go.. data needs to be managed and all that jazz.. I'm sure I'll get bored and need to post more later..

later

Happy New Year

Hello everyone.. hope your holidays went spectacularly well.. and that everything in your lives is peachy-keen. I'm back in New Orleans, fantastic time down here.. working on a day that should technically be a holiday, but never-the-less life goes on. Work is the same ol' thing, digging in the dirt. But, I can't complain.. much.

Broke two seat-posts on my brand new bike. Sort of irratates the hell out of me. But I'm not able to ride it now anyways, and I got in a good ride on Saturday so I'm pleased. Probably going to get an even better seat-post so that is a good thing.

In other news, not much is going on. Niki moved out.. a moment of silence please. So now I don't have a room mate. This makes me sad. But I filled the void with material things.. yeah, you know what I'm talking about. I'll try to post a picture or two when i've downloaded them off my camera. I still miss her constant comments directed towards the TV which was usually tuned to the Style network or more recently the Golf network. And we all know why.. nudge nudge.

Alright, back to work.. take care peoples..

Later