Amber thinks it's annoying when I don't update

So I'll update in pictures:
Mia hasn't been feeling good this week. Strep, not strep, maybe strep, maybe viral. Medicine it is an exact science.

I rode this bad boy. It hurt.

Quick quiz: Name those pedals, bonus if you can name the year they were made. I have brand new set of cleats for them.
Amber got a free hair do by trading a massage with the hair lady where she works. Me likey!

I've entered the 9th layer of cooperate hell.

Pickin on the Dead

I should have turned around as soon as I rode into the parking lot of McBride last night. Always a bad sign when Farasy & Hogan are already there. It gets worse, up rolls Cale, followed by Metrz (3 hrs into a 6 hour day), then the icing on the cake Huff. Being way out of shape I should have realized I was in over my head & went home but nope I took off with them. I then spent the next 1:30 chasing & staring @ what ever wheel I could grab. Just before Z I cracked, one hill too many. I limped home listening to the Grateful Dead's Pickin on the Dead. I got a pretty good laugh @ its irony. What a difference a year makes.

I'm sitting here this AM drinking my coffee rethinking any illusions I might have had about racing anytime soon. They all went up the road last night. I got my ass handed to me in a big way. Its starting to grow old that Hogan is in on the handing.

This pic is for Skippy, who was noticeably absent last night. This is the dungeon I work in . That picture on the wall is the closet thing to a window I have. Fluorescent hell. But I do have 2 monitors.

Another week in review

It seems lately all anyone has time for are weeks in review in the blog world. Once again I too am stuck doing a quickie recap.

Monday nothing interesting.

Tuesday was a bad day for Mia. She got bit 3X! at daycare. When Amber picked her up she got a note explaining why kids bite & lots of apologizes. The bite marks looked like dental impressions they were so perfectly shaped. What got me pissed was after the first bite they let the kid get near her not once but twice more to bite her.

Wednesday was may regularly scheduled XRay day. Not good. Not much healing if any. The Dr. dropped a bomb shell on me by telling me he'd like to leave the plate in till next February!!! The kicker being the plate is causing scar tissue so the popping I'm getting will get worse though its nothing to worry about. But I might need rotator cuff surgery because of it. So I'm drawing a line in the sand. When I go back in six weeks we're setting a date to get this out since I don't want the cure to cause more damage.

After my appointment I went to lunch with Amber. She called the daycare to check on Mia & she'd been bitten again!!! They said the kid was being kicked out of the daycare & he was being given one on one supervision for the rest of the day. We said screw that & went & got her. Nothing like paying for full time day care & only having your kid go for 2 hours plus get assaulted.

I did make it out for the Wednesday night ride. I was greeted by Stokes who looked like he'd been mugged. He took a bad spill on the Greenway's the day before & was pretty beat up. You couldn't tell by how he was killing everyone. He did get a bit skittish whenever gravel was on the road. I managed to ride over & back & not die. That was my longest ride since January. Last week was also the first time since the first week of the year I've ridden more than 160K in a week. I'm on a roll because I've topped it twice now in a row.

Thursday was the monthly review meeting @ work. Nothing like a lot of stress to make your day. After two weeks of running spreadsheets I got to give the numbers to the man. That public speaking class in college sure comes in handy.

Friday Amber had a big night out on the town while I stayed home with Mia. Aren't I a good husband & father?

Saturday I took Mia for a ride in the trailer. Then we took her for her first haircut before heading to the lake for a Father's day dinner with my parents.



Sunday I got out for my fourth, that's right fourth, ride of the week. Later we headed down to Amber's grandparents for a Father's day B B Q.

Pretty big week. Hopefully this week I can update a little more regularly. I also need to get a pic of my work space since Skip is flaunting his. I have 2 monitors too. Doesn't everyone in this day & age?

Weed Whackers

Friday night Amber & I attended the MacAnutt's outdoor movie night. I was finally able to be in the same place as Skip so was able to get the weed whacker I was promised over @ his blog.

Saturday AM I got up bright & early a commenced to pulling on the starter cord. 1000 pulls later I weed whacked my yard with it. In the process I got a pretty good blister & the thing to run fairly descent. It now idles like a champ & runs for more than 5 min (told you I could do it Skip). It lacks a little on top end power but I think a lot of that has to do with my mix.

All it took was a hammer, a punch, a die grinder, & a screwdriver to make it work. Let me explain my process. The hammer & punch were to knock away the stupid guard around the adjustment screws for the carburetor. The die grinder was to cut screwdriver slots into the aforementioned screws to allow me to adjust the carburetor with a screwdriver. The screwdriver was to adjust the carburetor which needed some love, plus a good cleaning. Thanks Skip for providing me with some Saturday morning entertainment. Also thanks to Cale & Erin for having us over Friday night.

A day that will live in infamy

One year ago today was a day that has haunted me every day for the last year. Because of one stupid dog I've basically lost a year of my life. I've not been able to boat, climb, or ride like I have in the past. On the up side I've spent a lot of time with Mia. I've been doing things around the house that I probably wouldn't have: IE the deck, the paint, mow my yard. A lot of good has come out of it besides all the pain that I have to deal with on pretty much a regular basis. When will this end? Got me, but hopefully soon. If not they can add mental effects to my list of injuries. It's killing me every time it rains & I can't go boating!

When I show up to the Wednesday night ride tonight it will be with some trepidation since shortly after it starts will be when I hit the deck & turned down a different fork in the road.

Ryan I still want that weed eater.

a few odds & ends

A few odds & ends is all I like to have the deck done. Just need to put a guardrail on the stairs & fix a few minor things. For all intensive purposes its done though.

The seats are comfy for lounging & drinking a cold one.

The weather is killing me

The weather is really putting a crimp in the finishing of the deck. Every night this week that I've attempted to work on it its rained or I've had something else going on. I figured I'd get up this AM & knock it out in a few hours & spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying the fruits of my labors. Instead I woke up to this:
Crap! On to plan B. Cut as much wood in the garage as I can & work on the weed eater. I'm sitting here now waiting for the compressor to fill up so I can use my air tools. Once again I'll strip the weed eater down & rebuild it. I've said it before I won't let it beat me. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I can have the deck finished.

This past week I've taken a small hiatus from my 3 day a week training plan. Got to rest up & all. When the deck is off my plate I'm going to try & get some miles in. Cross is only 4 months away.