Crushing Souls

For the avid readers of this blog, you may have heard me talk about my friend Brian.  While Brian and I don't hang out that much anymore now that he is new father, we still manage to get out for a ride every now and again.  This weekend was one of those times.  Since it was going to be extra warm and humid with chances for rain, we figured it would be a good time for a big ride. 

As per usual, Brian identified a nice long ride that had a few brutal climbs and plenty of rollers.  Also, to keep things interesting, our route would include very few places to stop for food or water so we had to take extra sustenance with us.  This is the typical kind of ride plan that we end up with so I shouldn't be surprised by it, but for some reason I still am.

So the long and short of our day was this: we left just before noon so we could enjoy the heat of the day.  We climbed over several mountains and rolled through several valleys.  We somehow managed to dance around what must have been a severe thunderstorm and only had periods of drizzle with wet roads.  We logged 112 miles, 6000 feet of climbing, several cases of water over the road, and spent about seven and a half hours in the saddle.  

It was a long and grueling day to say the least.  I spent an hour and a half cleaning all the grit off of my bike but after it was all said and done, I have to admit that it was worth it.  Of course, I haven't been able to feel my legs for two days so maybe that has something to do with it too.

Happy Memorial Day!

Rule of Three

So I have this theory.  I'm not a fancy scientist like some of my other friends (yeah I'm talking about you Nikki) so my theory might actually be a hypothesis, but that's not what I'm here to talk about.  My theory goes like this: Any home related project you decide will be more cost effective to "complete" yourself instead of paying a professional to do will result in a minimum of three trips to your local home store.  It doesn't matter what you need or think you need; a bolt, a box of galvanized screws, one washer, an air compressor; you will eventually find yourself at a home-store at least three times before  you can fully begin your frugal project.

I know this theory to be fairly accurate because I tested it this past weekend.  My father came to town (as he so graciously does from time-to-time) to help me with a significant house project.  I decided it would be a good idea to install ducting in my house so I can install a gas furnace and replace my electric baseboard heat.  As a bonus, this new ducting could also accommodate air conditioning; and that's reason enough for me to take on such a project.  It didn't seem like a difficult task since my house is only one story and all the infrastructure would be in the basement so I invited my father up for a weekend of fun, merriment, and heavy lifting.  

Well, after a screaming hot start on Saturday morning, things slowed to a crawl.  The long and short of it is this: we spent fifteen hours working on Saturday and another eight working on Sunday (before I sent my father home).  We made four trips to various home stores (all on Saturday); we destroyed one "professional" drill; we (meaning I) spent a bunch of money buying new tools and other tool accessories; we cut five holes in my floor (out of fourteen); we managed to hang about twelve feet (out of a total of about fifty feet) of duct.

The saving grace is that this weekend was blue bird days in the high seventies, so ideal for outdoor activity.  Fortunately we were solidly held-up in my basement so we avoided any chance of enjoyable outdoor activities.  Lucky for me we didn't get anywhere close to finishing so I'll get lots more cellar time in the near future.  Sun exposure can be rough you know...

Hello Ladies

Today is Mother's Day.  I know that because it says so on my calendar.  This is the one day out of the year where moms all over the world get to sit back, relax, and forget all their responsibilities for the entire day.  Typically, the men in their lives take care of all the day-to-day activities so that moms can have the day off.  Personally, I think giving moms even one day off every year is entirely too much.

The way I see it, moms are typically the voice of reason and keep us menfolk out of trouble.  Sure, I had some disagreements with my mother when I was growing up and some punishments were handed down but it was typically for my own good.  I would accept my sentence even when my mother was completely wrong.  The bottom line is, we need moms to do their mom-thing twenty four hours a day.  Some of the people I know can do some amazingly ridiculous things in just one day and need that motherly supervision all the time (It's possible that I might fall into this category).  

So for all the current and future moms out there, thanks for everything.  We couldn't do it without you and you should be celebrated every day of the year; not just one Sunday in May.  Luckily, Father's Day is far enough away that I can probably recycle this post.  After all, dads are kind of important too.  

Super Duper

This weekend saw several events.  First, there was a super moon.  I'm not entirely sure what makes it so super but I know it was full and that made it pretty cool.  Second, there was a birthday; Cathy's in particular.  Finally, it was Cino de Mayo.  That doesn't have any significance to me, but I guess if we needed another reason to celebrate than so be it.

So Saturday, with the culmination of all these events, a group of us decided to go out into the woods and camp.  We headed to an area that has a great overlook whereby we could enjoy the full moon, have some cake, and drink some margaritas.  It was a perfect night for camping with an amazing moon that was so bright that it seemed like the sun was out.  

The best part about this particular trip was the fact that  I slept like a rock.  There is something about sleeping out in the woods, near a fire, that really works well for sack time.  I guess all the celebrating (read: tequila heavy margaritas) didn't hurt either.