Skiing, Cross Country

Nice weather out there today. 25 to 30 degrees and a very nice blanket of snow (about 8-10 inches on the ground). So I couldn't resist digging out the cross country skis and taking a quick turn around St. Andrews golf course. Reminds me of how much fun it really is. And it also reminds me that I need to take a look at getting some new skis. Mine are over 20 years old and they've been through the mill. Maybe time to head down to Scheels in Iowa City and see what they have to offer. But I'm not sure that I can't find exactly what I need online ... assuming I get the size right.

What a nice Christmas it has been!

Later ...

Alas, Poor Bicycle ...

Looks like riding is going to be pretty darn iffy for the rest of the year. Hope springs eternal, but I may have to start being more consistent with the Nordic Track or the Elliptical machine. It's just that it's so much more boring doing that than riding a bicycle in the great out of doors! (sigh)

Anyway, it's a good day for dancing and I plan on doing so tonight with my favorite gal ... hopefully the weather will cooperate but I don't think it will snow too much, but there seems to be snow *forever* in the weather forecasts for Cedar Rapids. Think positive!

Later ...

Cold, Icy ... Time To Ride!

Cold out today (about 30 at 2pm) and there is still snow on the ground, not to mention the ice on my driveway. But the roads are in pretty good shape, if you can get to them from side streets. So I walked to the end of my driveway with the bicycle and off I rode. It was a pretty good ride but in some areas, the snow/ice forced me to be further away from the edge of the roadway than I normally prefer to be. However, with the time of day being between 2:15 and 3:15 pm, there wasn't much traffic to contend with so it worked out pretty well.

Tonight I decided to relax with a nice glass of wine and some cheese & crackers. I also got a little coffee bean grinder today and I'm having some good tasting coffee from time to time.

Later ...

Warmer Today (Surprise)

I do think that it was warmer out today than forecast (surprise, surprise!). While the forecast indicated snow/sleet and general nastiness today, there was sunshine and a temperature in the mid to upper 30's. Not too bad on the wind either ... all in all, a pleasant surprise and, of course, well worth a smile.

Tonight I sing ...

3600 (Cold) Miles Reached Today

Good riding today as the temperature was in the 40's (rather than the 27 degrees of yesterday). Looks like we're going to start being in a regular deep freeze situation now as winter is nudging its way into the room. C'mon global warming (except, of course, for Rush and all the ditto-heads out there that believe it's all a UN and Liberal "sky is falling" conspiracy).

Otherwise, a quiet day ... although I did stop out and get a new chain which I will probably put on the bike sometime in the next few weeks. First I have to double check the chain stretch and the number of miles on this chain, but I think it's just over 1,000 ... so it's probably good for awhile yet.

Later ...

Very Cool Ride

Yesterday (Thanksgiving Day, 2007) was a very cool (temperature) one for riding. It was 30 degrees with about a 15 mph north wind. However, when riding north it feels good to get there and realize that heading back will be much easier. But winter's definitely coming and I don't think it will be much fun to ride at colder than 30 degrees. It might be OK, though, if I limit myself to less than an hour of riding. I noticed that things (on me) got considerable colder when riding for 1.5 hours in yesterday's conditions. So riding my standard 14.2 mile workout ride might be just fine for sub-30 temperatures. Also, I tried out my new riding tights (Pearl Izumi) and they worked very well. I may stop by the bicycle shop today again and see if there's a better pair of riding gloves there. Protecting the extremities is the key to cold temperature riding.

Today should be fun ... at least after I'm done with laundry. It was cold overnight though (mid-teen's) and I think it's possible that golf is over with for the calendar year.

Later ...

Still Golfing and 3520 Miles

Had a great time golfing on Monday at the Riverside Casino golf course. That's a tough layout and it seems to work best to hit very relaxed, conservative shots. But it's probably a lot worse earlier in the year when the rough is much higher.

Turned 3520 miles today on the bicycle. Pretty foggy out and it rained most of the way but at least the temperature was in the mid to high 40's. Tomorrow will be cooler as the forecast says snow is expected. Don't know if the road will support a ride tomorrow but I plan to try.

New recipe time is here as I try out a Dutch Apple Streusel recipe for Thanksgiving. I got apples today and everything else is ready ... hope it turns out OK.

Not sure how long I'll stay at work tomorrow (Wednesday) as we have Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving and it's always nice to get a headstart on a holiday. Well, time for an early turnin as I need to get some good sleep tonight.

... later ...

3400 Miles ... With Smiles

Reached 3411 miles today (for the year) on the bicycle. Cold riding at 39 degrees but I now have some warmer gloves and head gear to make everything tolerable, even with substantial wind, down to about 32 degrees.

With global warming it seems more and more possible that year round riding could happen, even here in Iowa. Well, we'll see.

Last night went out to Shellsburg to see Tom and Wilma at their karaoke show and did a little dancing along with the singing. It was great. Also, after getting home, tested my hand at making a Cosmopolitan. Pretty good drink, I must say, but something like kool-aid in ease of going down. Have to be careful not to overdo those things!

Today I also did some PC update work but nothing too challenging. Tomorrow I'll probably do some more and I'm debating whether to go out singing tonight or not. Gets to be just too much smoke in those bars and it does affect my voice (as well as my lungs, I'm sure). Again, I'll have to decide that in a little while here ... but it's always fun to see friends out there.

Later.

Windy - No Ride Today

Today the winds out there are significant, exceeding 40 mph from the northwest. At that level, it's just not safe to ride on the roads around here so I'm taking a day off riding. This evening I'll have a bite to eat with a friend and then go out to sing, as is my custom. It will, however, be nice when Iowa finally passes a law to forbid smoking in all public places. I do worry about second hand smoke in bars and it also keeps me from spending as much time out singing as I would like. Actually, it's probably a good thing as I do get more things done here at home.

Speaking of "home", there's a small water spot on the ceiling in the dining room. It happens to be directly below a vent pipe the goes up through the roof. I've got a ladder up in the garage and went into the attic to check it out and get more details. I do know that I'd never noticed this water spot before the roof installation, so I'm pretty sure (but not 100%) that it occurred during that procedure. My guess is that the roof seal around the vent pipe wasn't perfect and there were several days of very heavy rain while the roof was being installed. I think some water made it through and I'm seeing the results of that. Now, however, the roof is completed and the problem should not recur. I'll have to take a look at it during a rainstorm but it's a real pain to get up there. I've also noticed that there is no vapor barrier in the attic, which I find to be unusual but I don't know that it's a big deal. Short of re-insulating, however, I'm not planning to address that right now ... nor do I think lack of a vapor barrier had anything to do with the water stain. So I think I'll paint the stain over and then see what happens as time goes by. H-mmm, I could also do a check sometime by running water from a hose down the roof in that area and see if it's sealed perfectly.

For now everything's a mess around here as I weigh the options so I think I'll proceed with painting the ceiling stain and then consider what to do next.

Later ...

R.I.P. (Rust In Peace) Celica & 3300 Miles

Got a note from Ryan today. He got the Celica to a junkyard and got $175 for it. But it was the third one he tried as the first two junkyards just said "no thanks" haha. Well, that episode is finally complete as the Celica had been in our family since September 12, 1986. Pictures are forthcoming on Ryan's picture website.

Today I turned 3300 miles on the bicycle. But I have to say that I really didn't want to work out today. Well, that happens from time to time. But I did it anyway. Also spent a few hours working with Larry getting data at the driving range on how spin on the golf ball impacts the carry and roll of the hit with different clubs. Many hours of data collection are needed to get enough of a sample to be significant but at least we have a start and something to work with to make sure all the right parameters are being monitored.

Well, just another weekend, I guess. I think I'll go out and get some matte board for a little project I need to work on.

Oh, and just a little public service announcement (if you might've been living in a cave or have just been too busy to pay attention) ... be sure to set your clocks back today as we switch back to Standard time tomorrow morning (Sunday, November 4). I'd vote to leave the time system on Daylight Saving all year round and stop messing with the clocks twice a year. Well, I would *if* I had a vote.

Later ...

Interesting Week, Very Interesting ...

Although I didn't ride today, I predict that I'll hit 3300 miles this weekend. It's colder and the cold is typically accompanied by wind, so that really is something that tries to talk me out of riding. Well, I am resolute and shall not be defeated! (hehe) I also discovered that there was a bit too much play in the rear wheel bearings after the bike shop replaced them for me two weeks ago Monday. So I tweaked that a bit and it is good now. If those aren't set just right, there will be excessive wear on the bearing races and that's just not something I'm OK with letting slide.

This week, I found an old friend ... or, perhaps, my friend found me. Either way, it's been a good week and one that I'll never forget.

Tomorrow I'm going out to the golf place to work with Larry and some other folks as we try to gather experimental data on what effect spin on the golf ball has as far as carry and roll with various clubs (including all the way from wedge to driver). Hopefully this won't consume all the good part of the day as I'd like to catch some of the Iowa game and I need time to get a bicycle ride in. But it's an interesting question and there doesn't seem to be much data on it out on the internet (according to Larry).

But tonight, well, tonight is a time to sing. And I got my hair cut today! Think I might head over to Papa Juan's to get started a bit early and then I have to decide about whether to go out to Shellsburg as Mike is doing a show out there ... but it's almost an hour's worth of driving to get out there and back, so it's not that exciting to me (and the bar there is very smoky).

Good Riding Today

I rode 24 miles today and I'm very confident now that wind is much tougher to deal with than hills (at least the hills in Iowa, hehe). Today there was a cross breeze but it wasn't terribly strong ... typically probably 8-12 mph. And the time was a respectable 1 hr 26 min. Calories burned were less and the time was quite a bit faster than the other day when I was dealing with a 20 mph straightaway wind. So my conclusion is that strong winds hurt you more when they're against you than what they help when they're with you. So opt to ride without any wind unless you can always ride *with* it ;-) ... pretty catchy, huh?

I need to do a further adjustment on the rear bearings because there is too much play in them. They were re-lubed at the bike shop but I guess anyone can have an off day.

Yesterday I didn't workout but I had a very interesting day ... and one that I'll never forget.

Later ...

New Jeans ...

It would seem that buying new jeans isn't much news, but I always have trouble in this area. First of all, my favorite jeans are Levi's 550 and the waist size is 30 inches. Well, there aren't a lot of 29, 30, 31 inch jeans on the shelf. But there are *some* choices, from the waist size perspective. The length is another issue. The ideal length for me is 33 ... and I've never seen any jeans with 30 waist and 33 length from Levi. I actually called and talked to a representative a few years ago and finally figured out (the person I was talking to didn't know this off the top of his head either) that Levi does not make jeans with a length that is an odd number. My immediate observation to them was that a change of 2" to go to the next length is fairly drastic. And it has never worked for me. So what I have to do is get them shortened. Anyway, it's a big deal for me to get new jeans and then shorten them to the proper length ... so that discussion makes this subject blog-worthy ... ;-). In my search yesterday, I did see, for the first time ever, some 33 inch length Levi's jeans ... but the waist was 29. However, I was fortunate to find what were apparently the very last 2 pair of 30-34" jeans (and the deal was buy one, get the second pair at 1/2 price, so I needed to find two pair or it didn't make sense to get any at all). So I bought them!

This morning I'm washing the jeans and then I'll get them shortened sometime this week. My washer and dryer handle jeans very well and the key to having them not shrink is to dry them on medium (not high) heat. They still dry pretty quickly since the washer has a very high spin that gets them to be much less damp before they even hit the dryer.

Today I really need to repack the front wheel bearings on the bike so I'm going to try to make that happen. In other news, I simply cannot seem to find my cell phone power adapter for the car. Don't know what I did with it but I know that the last time I had it was on RAGBRAI. I've confirmed 100% that it's not anywhere in the car so I'm going to methodically go through my old packing bags and pannier pockets from RAGBRAI to try to find it. I really don't use it very often but it would be a pain to take off on any kind of longer car trip and not have it. So I'll have to get another one if I can't find the original. Wish me luck! :-)

Otherwise it is getting distinctly cooler around here, which is typical for Halloween. Speaking of which, I did get a bag of candy to give out on Wednesday. But last year not a single ghost or goblin came to the door. So I'm going to have to put in a lot of workout miles if I have to personally "dispose" of those treats or else I'll take them in to work and give them away there ... that stuff does go fast at work.

Later ...

Fun and Sadness ...

Nice, but tough, ride today as I went up to Center Point (24.2 miles round trip). The wind was from the northwest at 20 mph. Tough ride as it took me over 54 minutes to get up there but slightly less than 36 minutes to get back. I have to say that I'd rather have hills than headwinds. But whatever works.

Before my ride I stopped over at Pei's and talked to Bob for awhile as we ate at the buffet. Then I gave him a ride over to Verizon on Blairsferry Road. Later in the afternoon took in the movie "Michael Clayton" with a friend and enjoyed it. Had a bite to eat at El Rancho and then stopped in at the Red Lion to take a picture or two and maybe sing a song during the Halloween costume party. Well, I cut my visit there short and stopped up at Papa Juan's where I had a margarita and ran into Terry and Gail Smith as they stopped in there for dinner. Terry had just returned from Toulouse, France (they were driving in from the airport).

Not much more to report on today ... we'll see what happens tomorrow. Goodnight and remember to seriously ask yourself why so many people believe in supernatural fantasy's and try to think of what you might be able to do to promote more belief in reality (based on real facts).

... think about it.

Later ...

Biking Fun ... 3200 Miles in 2007

Today I hit 3200 miles (for the year) on the bicycle and it was an interesting ride. I say that because it was perfectly dry here in Hiawatha when I left ... and then when I turned north (about 5 miles out) I noticed that there seemed to be moisture on the road. Sure enough, as I went the last 2-3 miles into Toddville, there was quite a bit of water on the road. It stayed that way until I turned south again and got back to about 2-3 miles north of home. Then it was perfectly dry. So I think we were on the edge of some very light drizzle ... and it didn't actually rain on me but the bike got wet and, of course, got dirt and sand thrown up on it from the wheels. Guess I'll have to clean it up good again. That'll have to happen tomorrow when I replace and lube the front wheel bearings. Also, with 1100 miles on my new (2nd chain on this bike) chain, I can't detect any chain stretch. So I'm thinking it will probably be good until the odometer hits at least 4000.

Ryan thinks he got about 40 mpg on the drive back to North Carolina in the Corolla. That's pretty good and with oil starting to push $100/barrel, can it be long before the price of gas rises again? So this car is a very good choice for him.

Tonight should be fun for singing and maybe a little dancing. I'm invited out to Shellsburg to sing as well, but I don't know that I feel like making that drive again (round trip is about an hour on the road). So I think I'll just hang around town as there are plenty of places with stuff going on because of Halloween. I don't think I'll wear my costume though ... unless I end up going to a true "costume party" rather than just a bar here and there to sing/dance.

Well, it should be an interesting batch of Halloween parties as there will also be a full moon tonight. The weather word is dryer but cooler this weekend ... so I guess I didn't have to mow my lawn this afternoon. But it's done now and I'm glad.

And sooner or later I need to replace the faucet in my tub. It likes to drip a little bit and if I get it set "just so" I can get it to stop but that seems to be getting more and more difficult to do. One of these days I'll take it apart and then go get the right replacement stuff. I've had problems with these Delta ball faucets in the past so I'm going to take extra care to make sure I get this exactly right this time.

Think I'll watch Voyager for awhile and maybe do some weights ... I know, I should be stretching!

Later ...

Bicycle Smoothie

Well, the bike shop finished the hub overhaul on my rear wheel (bearings, cones, races & cassette). Man, along with the chain lube I did Sunday, what a smooth ride I had up to Center Point this afternoon. The freewheel is a very smooth "clickity-click" now when coasting (which isn't very often) and I got some bearings for the front wheel, which I haven't installed yet but will probably do by the weekend.

One thing is for sure, whenever I start to have any kind of shifting issues, cleaning and lubing the chain always brings back smooth, precise gear changes. H-mmm, that reminds me that I need to check the chain stretch and see whether it's time to consider replacing the chain again.

Ryan made it back to North Carolina last night around 9:30. The drive back was without incident except for a close call with a deer ... which ended up hitting the car right behind his. Well, who knows, maybe it was a miracle, eh?

Still trying to decide about whether or not to retire next year. Seems like not much need to keep on working anymore as I don't have a family to support (and no likelihood of getting one in the near future). I don't know ... but I've really been thinking about this since February 18, so it's not like I'm only just considering it. Also, I started on this path several years ago as I got with my broker to see what I needed to do to be able to retire by 55. If I find that my work isn't interesting anymore, why not do other things that are? The debate goes on, at least in my head. Oh, yeah, and thank goodness for friends, margaritas at Papa Juan's and karaoke ... life is good.

Bicycle Maintenance ... Movie Love

Catchy title, eh? I did maintenance work on the bike today. Cleaned and lubed the chain and washed the bike. Well, the rear wheel is making a subtle grinding noise when it freewheels and so I figured I'd repack the wheel bearings. But when I took the bearing out and then turned the wheel on the hub the noise was still there. So it's somewhere internal to the hub. Anyway, I just decided to throw the wheel in the car and take it over to the bike shop tomorrow and have them look at it. I've taken a hub apart before and it's a bit of a pain ... plus I'm wondering if it's defective (and that would still be under the 1 year warranty) ... so I think it's better to just let the professionals handle it.

Watched a couple of movies this weekend (Starz almost always has free weekend movie "previews" as they try to get you to subscribe) and I have just this one observation to make regarding chick flicks. Yes, there are many good men out there and, in the movies, they usually get the love of their life. In large part it's because both are honest, in love and, eventually at least, become aware of the other and it all clicks ... especially with chemistry in the mix. But I'm here to tell you that it doesn't work that way in real life. I'm convinced ... and it took 20 years of my 54 1/2 to burn it into my heart and my mind.

Go Red Sox!

Good night.

Car Followup and More ...

Interesting story on the car. As I suspected, Ryan liked the Corolla and so that's what he got. But the car was being looked at some time ago by an engineer from Collins that I happen to know. He had all the paperwork set up and when he came in to finalize the deal I guess the term of the loan had to go to 66 months (instead of 60) to ensure that the payment was small enough or something. Anyway, he backed out because of that (strange!). So yesterday Ryan and I went in there when Ryan bought the car and it turns out that this other guy had called and said he was coming in at 11:30 to buy the car after all. Well, the early bird gets the worm, you snooze you lose, etc., etc. and we got out of there *with* the car by about 11:05. I don't know what they did about the other guy but, basically, he ended up in a corner he painted himself into.

Ryan will probably start driving back to North Carolina tomorrow so that he's not all worn out for class on Tuesday (he has no classes on Monday so that will be a good driving day too). He's visiting his mom and grandma today and later this afternoon him and I will go out to dinner with Larry. That'll be fun.

Last night's dance in Waterloo was really fun. I sure have a terrible time with names though. Well, another year or so and I'll probably have most of the names of the gals that dance regularly down pat (hehe). Although I can only guess that my memory is likely to get worse rather than better (ya think?!).

On the way back I stopped in for a "quickie" karaoke song at a bar called Pauley's (or Paulie's, I don't remember) in Waterloo and then stopped down at the Red Lion (Cedar Rapids), which was very busy. But I sang two songs and had a few dances/drinks there and eventually got home by about 1:45 (which, as people who know me know, is very late for me). But I also stopped up at Sammy's and had some coffee (shouldn'ta done that!) and a little conversation. Interestingly enough, at Red Lion, Craig (karaoke host and *very* good singer) asked me, after my last song, if I did any professional singing ... my answer was "no". He said that's a big waste of talent. Well, maybe ... but anyway I took it as a very nice compliment and we'll leave it at that. Oh, and there's one person that I will *never*, while I'm on this earth, dance with again and she was there and actually had the nerve to ask me to dance while Steve was singing "My Girl". I just said "no thanks", which is very much *not* good dance etiquette. But, to me, it felt appropriate and, in fact, I will dance with anyone else ... so it won't be a recurring negative theme (smile). I'm just done playing any of her games ... ever again.

Good bike ride to Center Point today. Got in 24 miles and the bicycle is at about 3123 on the odometer for the year. There was a stiff breeze from the south so it was a "breeze" getting up there but tough going coming back to town directly into the wind. It showed as I burned 1056 calories on a ride that's nominally around 850 or 900 for me.

Oh, and I got the "roof update" form in to insurance for the house as I get a 10% reduction on my homeowner's insurance because of the aluminum roof being fireproof. It's not much but it's something.

That's about all I know today ... guess I carried on for awhile. That's one of the things you can do with a blog, eh.

Later ...

Ryan's In Town!

Big news. Ryan flew in from North Carolina last night and I plan on taking most of the day off as he has some time this morning and we'll go (used) car shopping and have some breakfast. The old Celica is on life support and it's probably better to just let it slip into its coma and remove the feeding tubes (I know, that's not a Republican perspective ... hehe). I think he can get a few bucks for it at a junkyard when he gets back to Raleigh ... may it rest in peace. Well, that old car as over 220,000 miles on it and has been in the family for 21 years. Not too bad and she'll be missed.

The new vehicle is likely to be a Toyota Corolla, *if* there's enough legroom in it for him. We'll have to work out the financing deal but that shouldn't be much of a problem.

More later ...

Lost?

Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please come around. Something's been lost and cannot be found.

Sometimes, after you lose something special ... and realize it can never be found again, you also feel that you just don't "fit in" even when you're out with friends having fun. And it's a strange feeling ...

And It Is ... Raining, That Is

Raining again today. Well, I took a quick look at the NOAA forecast earlier this afternoon and noticed showers moving in from the southwest. With nothing scheduled at work I bugged it home and quick mowed the lawn ... whew! It started raining shortly afterwards but ... not a problem!

The roof is 100% complete as they finished installing the ridge caps this morning. And the gutter guys (sounds like a gang, eh?) got the gutters re-installed yesterday afternoon so all is well. I guess the only thing I have left to figure out is how to re-install the leaf guard on the gutters. They're designed to slip under regular tar shingles but with the aluminum shingled roof there is no access for slipping them in anymore. I think I'll have to put a 90 degree bend in each of the (4 foot) sections of gutter-guard and then put 3 holding screws in each and I'm sure that will hold up ... even with heavy snow this winter.

Dancing was fun last night at Walford as the Dale Thomas Band was playing. Well, not much happening on Wednesday's ... mostly good for a song or two at Papa Juan's and a marg with no salt and, of course, chips and salsa!

And, NEWS FLASH!, Ryan's coming to town tomorrow night. We're going to try to find him a car as the old Celica is slowly dying and maintaining it on life support is getting more and more costly. With short notice, though, I'm not sure how likely it is that we'll find one in the next 2 days. We'll see. It'll be good to see him again. Can't wait to see Scott, too, hope he makes it back home pretty soon ...

Later ...

Let It Rain

This afternoon Tomlinson's stopped over and re-installed the gutters on my house. So now it can rain and I won't care (well, except for the fact that I haven't mowed my lawn for 10 days and now it won't stop raining so I can ... but maybe tomorrow, as it's supposed to be sunny, finally, again).

Looks like I'll hit 3100 miles on the bicycle this week (probably tomorrow) ... but it's getting cooler and nastier out day by day ... and although that won't stop me from riding, it's certainly not as fun as a good, sweaty, hot ride in the summer!

Oh, and before I forget ... this is sooooo interesting, and nice. Saturday evening one of the neighbors (Sarah) rang my doorbell and dropped off a plateful of chocolate chip cookies. Very nice (and very delicious cookies). Well, it's just about the nicest thing that's happened to me since early in the evening of January 12, 2007. I've already decided that I'll reciprocate with a pie sometime during the holiday season. They have a 6 week old baby and so I know they're going to have a very fun holiday.

Dancing was fun this weekend. I went out both Friday and Sunday evenings and had a great time. Looks like a bunch of gals from the dance are going to stop in to the Red Lion on either the 26th or 27th to hear me sing. Unfortunately, the 27th, although it is the day for the Halloween party, is also a Hawkeye home game and so the 20-something kiddies will be screaming and rapping at the Red Lion (yes, I'm whining, and this stuff just started this fall). So it's really not as much fun since that's pretty much like almost every other bar in town and, normally, there's a somewhat older (well, OK, "more refined", then) group of patrons at the Red Lion ;-). Well, I think I'll go out to Walford dancing tonight and let the gals know they should focus on Friday, the 26th, rather than Saturday. I'd hate for them to have a bad experience (especially when I'm singing, hehe).

I also had a discussion with a bartender friend on Sunday and she said she's never been married and doesn't see the benefit in it. I have a feeling she's right. Sure makes it much easier to avoid all the crazy's that often don't even know what they want. And you don't have to worry about them lying to you when they say they love you ... because everything's above board about them not wanting anything for "the long run". Maybe I should've figured this out at least 3 years ago. Sure would've been nice to not waste all that time on someone who basically chews men up and spits them out. And I wouldn't have fallen in love with her. And that's only my latest mistake. Wow. Well, live and learn ... and leave with a smile ... good night.

Rainy Days and Sundays

It just looks like rain today from now to forever (or tomorrow, whichever comes first). And the roof guys didn't call the gutter guys to get my gutters re-installed Friday so all the roof water is dropping right down. H-mmm could be some erosion near the start of the retaining wall in back. Well, we'll see. One thing, though, is that the aluminum roof is just no noisier in the rain than a tar-shingled roof. No unusual noise at all.

Fall just happened, about Tuesday of this week. High's in the 50's and cooling to the low 40's at night. Anyway, it's a cold, wet, dreary day again today ... maybe good for a movie. Well, I have to decide on DVD movies here at home or maybe going out to a show. Of course, I have good hot chocolate here and that's always lacking at the theater ;-) ...

Added 7 CD's to my network music system yesterday ... 4 of them were classical music and the other 3 were Rock n Roll songs from the 50's and 60's (only $9.99 at Target, hehe).

Need a new book to read. I think I'll head over to Barnes & Noble and maybe have a cup of coffee while I browse ... wonder when they open?

Later ... enjoy the rain.

Saturday, Wine (Again)

The wine/cracker/cheese combo last night was, as always, very tasty. However, as will happen from time to time, I did manage to spill a bit of wine. It got on my shirt and on the carpet. So this seems like a good time to talk about wine stain removal. A few years ago there was a tip from the show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" on removing red wine stains from carpet. And I've since seen this repeated and supported as true in various places on the internet. The best mixture appears to be hydrogen peroxide and green Dawn dishwashing liquid. I suspect just about any liquid dishwashing detergent will work, but there were several sites that were adamant that Dawn was the best. From various articles, I also suspect that "lemon scented" Dawn, if there is such a thing, might be even better as lemon (the citric acid in it, I think) seems to be a prominent, and very effective, agent in many other wine stain removal recipes. Anyway, the mixture ratio is about 1 part Dawn to 16 parts peroxide (1 tablespoon added to a cup). It is essential that *both* the detergent and peroxide be used as either one alone is ineffective. And be sure to mix them together well (i.e., don't just pour the Dawn into the peroxide and start using it, stir it up first).

To treat your carpet, do *not* rub vigorously on the stain, but use a sponge to gently soak the concoction into it. You will see the stain disappear before your eyes. Then use a clean, water dampened sponge and some good paper (or cloth) towels to do a final cleanup. Let it dry. It's also very important that the mixture be "fresh". Once the peroxide sits around in the open air for awhile it becomes much less effective. This can be used as a pre-wash on clothing that has been stained (I'm running an experiment right now on this :-)). This remover is effective on both fresh and on older, set in, stains. It also works on many other stains than just wine.

I'll report back later on how the laundry turns out ... but the carpet stain has cleaned up nicely.

(It's now later): OK, I have to say that the laundry shows no traces of wine either. So this stuff works. However, it is a dreary, drizzly day out and I haven't done any riding nor have I mowed the lawn yet. Guess it may be a PC day.

Looking around for things to do in the house, I replaced the bulbs in the laundry room light fixture with high efficiency (T8) bulbs ... along with a compatible electronic ballast (only one is needed vs. the two magnetic ballasts present in the old configuration). However, and as somewhat expected, I found out that my occupancy sensor switch really does *not* work with electronic ballast. I did a test where I bypassed the sensor switch and the lights worked fine (whew! because that means I did the wiring right, which is good). So I searched online and found an occupancy (motion detecting) sensor switch that is compatible and I ordered one. Now I'm also comfortable knowing that I can replace any of the other 4 fixtures downstairs with T8 bulbs and high efficiency electronic ballast without having to buy a whole new fixture. It's nice to know. As of yet, I haven't found (but haven't searched much) the T8 bulbs with a different color temperature than standard florescent white/green ... ugh. It's OK for the laundry room but I have 5000K bulbs in the family room and I want to go for something like that there too (if I switch to T8 bulbs). H-mmm, looks like they have 6500K (daylight) T8 bulbs at bulbs.com ... have to check in to that.

Of course, none of this is terribly cost effective unless I stay here for a very long time but it does give me a good feeling to do even minor reductions on my carbon footprint ... although I'm sure Rush would simply sniff his nose incredulously.

Later ...

Wine, W**** and Song

Well, this is one of those nights, I must admit, when I've come home after a bit of dancing, some singing and some drinking ... and I really felt the urge to open a very good bottle of red wine and have crackers and cheese with it. Yes, I know I'm here alone, but it still feels (and is) very good.

Good bike ride (24.2 miles) today and good dancing ... learned a new line dance as well (but that will be retained for about another 2.4 minutes, hehe). The roof guys are *almost* done but need to finish restoring some siding and adding the roof ridge (i.e., the peak). I hope they do it tomorrow, but I'm not sure they will. They also need to get the gutters back on but that's got to be coordinated with Tomlinson ... so I'm not sure when that will happen.

But the good news is that the basic roof is installed and it looks very good! I'm happy with it and, of course, I'd be much happier if they were *totally* done. Anyway, I feel that I now have an abode for the rest of my life (at least, from the roof perspective).

Later ...

3K and Counting ... and The Roof ...

Well, I hit 3000 miles on the bicycle for the year. That happened last Tuesday, 10/9/07. And I took Wednesday off ... just because. Today was a nice ride up to Center Point but that North wind was pretty cold. I guess Autumn is really here ... finally.

Went out for lunch with the boss (for Boss' Day) and had quite a few calories. This was at Red Lobster. Boy, I love those little cheddar biscuits ... but they are 160 calories a pop and over half the calories are from fat. Good motivation for a hard ride up to Center Point though (hehe).

The roof is about 90% done and only the detailing work at the front of the house remains. Of course that's the most labor intensive and I didn't receive total commitment to my observation that it "looks like you'll be done tomorrow". But I think they will. I have to say that they are doing a very good job of cleaning up the work area every night as well. I'm pretty pleased with this crew. I'm also pretty confident that my friend Larry is going to go the same way as it's time to replace his shingles. But he also wants to do windows and siding. Since he has a separate garage, he needs to do a reasonable job of matching up the finish on the house siding (which will be plastic, steel or aluminum) to that of the garage. Well, we'll see how that goes.

This should be a big dance weekend as I'm tentatively planning on going out to Walford on both Friday and Sunday nights and up to Waterloo on Saturday (although that's a bit iffy). As well, there are three places I'd like to stop and sing on Friday night (fortunately, the dance starts early) so it could be a very busy weekend.

It's cold (and cloudy) enough out that it might be time to kick in the old furnace soon. H-mmm, well, I hope it doesn't blow up or anything. I sure haven't done much riding on the motorcycle this year. All my spare time seems to go in to bicycle riding or golf. Well, if I ever get a girlfriend maybe she'll want to take some rides and that will motivate me. Fall is a good time for motorcycle, temperature wise, but it's not so great from the point of view of those idiots of the forest ... the white tailed deer. I really do *not* want to have one of them run out in front of me on the motorcycle and it seems that they're around at epidemic levels this time of year.

Well, enough for today ... I've been working on a couple of new songs, a duet entitled "Don't Know Much" and a solo song called "Nobody Knows". Both are very nice songs but I have to find someone that knows the duet before I can "do it" ... hehe.

Later ...

Of Golf, Dancing and Dish ...

Well, the golf game today was really pretty good. Played at Ellis and my "shot of the day" was on the par 3 8th hole (136 yds) where the tees were moved up a bit as they are preparing for winter. I hit a 9 iron to about 20 inches from the hole and, yes, I did make the putt for a birdie. It felt so good. Actually, I hit a lot of good irons today and a few reasonable drives. But I had a 9 on number 13 (appropriately enough) as I lost one ball and hit another out of bounds. Oh, well ...

Then I headed home to see if the Dish guy had successfully relocated my antenna as it was interfering with the edging on the new roof installation. As I expected, even though I made sure that the Dish guys knew I would *not* be home (I was out golfing), there were several voice mails saying things like "I knocked on the door and rang the doorbell but it seemed that no one was home ... call me when you'd like to re-schedule" ... sheesh.

So I called and talked to Josh and told him that I had made clear on the service call that I would not be at home (although it apparently wasn't clear enough) ... and he said he'd stop back later and do the job. Anyway, I was here when he stopped back (actually, I rode up on my bicycle as he drove in) and we got it moved (about 2 inches) ... all is now well. H-mmm, except for the fact that it cost me $50. I wonder if I can get that back from the roof installer ... probably not, that guy's a real tight-fisted b******. But I think his people are doing a good job on the install, and that's the important thing.

Dancing was really fun last Friday night ... have to figure out where to go next week/weekend ... as it will also be a celebration dance at having my roof installation completed! Whoo-whoo!

Anyway, this evening I decided to have some crabmeat rangoons at Pei's (where I also got some reading done on my latest book) and then stopped at Papa Juan's for a marg and some video games. It was a nice afternoon ... enough to make me smile.

Roof 1/2 Finished ...

The roof is about half finished ... maybe more like 40% as it's the "easy" part of the north side that's actually complete. Turns out the the mount for the Dish antenna was in the way so they loosened the mounting bolts from the side panel of the roof and, of course, I first found out about this by trying to tune in the TV. They were surprised that such a small (vertical, about 1/2") movement of the mount base meant that I could no longer get reception (I wasn't surprised, though). Anyway, I called Dish and they're sending someone out (but it won't be until 9am on Sunday, 10/7/07) to re-locate the antenna. I could probably do it but I don't have the equipment to easily ensure proper alignment (you have to use the TV and watch the signal power, then tweak the dish, then recheck the power, etc., etc.). I suspect they won't charge me as they'll just be happy I decided to not screw with it ... but we'll see. Anyway, it won't be much and I'd rather have it done right. I also told them I'd like the old mounting holes filled in (I guess they could just put lag bolts in them) but I bet they don't get that part right.

Had a nice ride to Center Point today as the weather is about like early July around here. Pretty surprising. I do think the roofing guys appreciate it and I also expect that the roof will be done by Wednesday or Thursday of next week (but no later than Friday, 10/12/07). It seems to be the talk of the neighborhood and I have to say that what's up there is looking pretty good. I'll just be glad when it's done.

In other news Alliant Energy came and picked up my old fridge and gave me a $35 check ... alright! That's better than paying Sears $10 to haul it away. And I didn't really try to sell it, just asked a few people at work if they might be looking for a second fridge. Larry might've been but I know he's already got one out in the golf barn at his place so I was confident he didn't need another one. But one nice feature is that it had a working ice-maker ... oh well. I'm just glad it's gone.

Guess I'll get dressed for the evening and then run a few errands before going up to Electric Park to dance. After that I'll head back down to Cedar Rapids and sing a few songs. Of course, tomorrow it's back to laundry and lawn mowing ... yea! The bicycle now has 2951 miles on it for 2007 and I'll hit 3000 sometime next week (probably Tuesday). I think that should be an annual goal of mine ... 3000 miles on the bicycle. Should be doable with 7 solid months of riding, maybe 3 months of "gray area" for riding outside and then just 2 months where it's really not fun (and maybe dangerous) to be out on the bicycle in Iowa. Even with 7 months, that's still right around 100 miles a week, which isn't too tough. After 2008 I may up my goal if it appears that it's too easy to hit it.

Later ...

Roof Is Started ...

Well, the old shingles are a thing of the past although the new aluminum shingles are not yet on. I suspect it will take about a week. Meanwhile, I took a ride up to Center Point this afternoon ... and my bicycle mileage hit 2900. I think it might be a good new goal to try for 3000 miles on the bicycle every year from now on.

Not much else to talk about today ... good night.

New Roof Status ... And Other Things

Well, my new aluminum roof installation was to start today but, of course, it's raining. So the work will commence tomorrow. I expect it to take about a week and just want to get it completed as soon as possible. The weather forecast is favorable through the end of the week with the next chance of thunderstorms happening on Saturday/Sunday. Apparently, the first thing that's installed is a waterproof underlayment so the weather won't matter after that (as far as moisture on the roof).

Well, it's getting lighter out now so perhaps the rain has passed. I'll probably go for a bicycle ride. The rain is not much of a problem but when it's accompanied by lightning I don't want anything to do with being out on the road on a bike. And since the start of the "official" abs/stretch month (only 1 full day of course!) I've kept up with the crunches and at least 2 minutes of stretching. I really do need to focus on the stretching part of this ... but I think it will be fun.

And, for all those that are wondering, the fridge is working great ... and the power company will be picking up the old one on Friday. I need to contact them on Thursday to make sure they give me a call when they're on their way to get it ... I can be home in 15 minutes to open the house for them.

Later ... well, what a wet and wild ride! But the rain was warm and there was no lightning. Anyway, it gives you a new understanding and feeling for what "alive" is ... fun!

Fridge Status

When I left for work this morning, the freezer on the new fridge was at about -1 degree. This afternoon, when I got home, it was 38 degrees and had been as high as 41. There may be some latitude on range of the temp sensor in the freezer but 40 degrees is way too much. So I called Whirlpool and we discussed it. It cleared up when I moved the temp control and the freezer kicked in. Until that point, it was basically at the same temperature as the main refrigerator ... which is too warm for the freezer. I said I'd call back if there was a recurrence of the problem and I'm monitoring it. Anyway, I knew everyone would want to hear about this so I'm dutifully reporting it (hehe).

I'm looking forward to going to see Jeff Dunham tonight at the Paramount ... even though I'll be going alone. He's so funny!

Tomorrow is the annual inter-department golf tournament at SaddleBack golf course in Solon so I think I'll take the day off. That means I can stay out later tonight and maybe sing after I leave the Paramount.

Later ...

After The Fridge ...

Well, the new fridge is working great. Interestingly enough, I was talking to my son, Ryan, about this ventriliquist comedian, Jeff Dunham, when I was in Chicago at the Cubs game last Saturday. And I found out last night that Dunham is going to be here at the Paramount in Cedar Rapids tomorrow night (Thursday, the 27th). Quickly checking online, I ordered two tickets for the 7:30 performance. Of course, I don't have a date, so we'll see what happens there ... but I have a ticket if someone shows up and would like to go. Anyway, this guy is just incredibly funny and he has maybe half a dozen different dummies that he uses in his act. Seems like I heard he now has a regular show (maybe on Comedy Central, I'm not sure) ... but it's going to be fun seeing him, even if I just go by myself.

Oh, and I need to report that I turned the dial the wrong way on the freezer so it has been warming up today (I wanted it colder) ... . It's a vertical thing and, in my defense, it seems like turning it so the marker goes "up" means I'm turning the "cold" "up" ... but it really means I'm making the temperature "higher". Guess I need to learn to pay more attention to the markings and less to "human" factors, eh? Well, no damage done ... so it's an easy lesson (and, believe me, I don't seem to get too many of those anymore ... "easy" lessons, I mean). So at least I can smile about it. The old fridge has been "shedding" water as it sits there in the kitchen waiting to be picked up next week (Friday, 10/5) by Alliant Energy. So it surprised me this morning as I thought the new one was leaking ... but it wasn't.

Later ...

3rd Anniversary Signoff

Hi Everyone!

Yes, today would have been the third anniversary of my first date with the (now ex-) love of my life. And, interestingly enough, it's also the day that I've replaced my old refrigerator with a new Whirlpool one from Sears.

A few interesting quotes ...

"Tell me I've led a good life ... tell me I'm a good man."
-James Ryan, Saving Private Ryan

"Somehow, the conversation mentioned your name. And someone asked if I knew you. Looking away I thought of all the times we had together; sharing laughter, tears, jokes and tons more. And then, without explanation you were gone. I looked to where they were waiting for an answer, and then said softly, 'Once ... I thought I did.'" -Unknown

... later ...

... Fall Is Fell ...

Yes, today is the astronomical first day of autumn. And it feels like it ... I think it's only about 50 degrees out there this morning. But it's a good thing ... and yesterday (Saturday, 9/22) was a great day. I drove to Chicago to meet Ryan as he had tickets to take me to a Cubs game (he flew in from North Carolina). We watched the Cubs beat the Pirates 9-5 as they hit 4 home runs (again ... they did that on Friday as well) in the game. I also picked up a Cubs hat and a print of a painting of Wrigley Field that I need to get a frame for (10x20). After the game we went and got a bite to eat and stopped at Starbucks for coffee and talked for awhile. Then I left town and made it out through the 5:00 rush hour but still got back to Cedar Rapids before 9pm (about 8 hours of driving yesterday). What a great day!

Oh, but too bad about the Hawks losing ... they made a pretty good effort against Wisconsin but the offense just doesn't seem to be up to the task. You can only rely on the defense for so much before you really have to put points on the board.

Well, I notice today that my weight is up to 162 ... a couple pounds too high. Have to do something about that but it will be pretty straightforward. Sure makes it obvious how easy it is to gain weight though. I think I've been to Pei's a few times too often in the past month. But they have such good crabmeat rangoons!

Next big project on the agenda is still the roof replacement. I signed the contract and sent out a payment Friday (9/21) to get that process started. I'm guessing they'll order the material and get organized in the next two weeks and I should have a new roof in place by Halloween.

Today I think I'll ride up to Center Point ... it's a nice solid 24 mile ride on a good road. And by 10/7/07 my weight will be back to 160 or less ...

2700 and Counting

Over 2700 miles of bicycle training this year, as of Wednesday afternoon. Feels good but I think some additional training is in order. So October will be "stretch" and "abs" month (hehe). I'm going to be very focused on stretching every day for at least 5 solid minutes with a goal of 10. And 200 crunches per day will be the norm. Why? Well, I don't know ... but I do know this: after having so long having had reasons and goals in my heart for love and happiness with my friend and my woman, I know that I don't have to have reasons anymore if I don't want to. So it's just something I feel like doing ... and I will.

Also, progress on the new roof. It will be installed in the next few weeks. Should be the last roof I'll ever need on this house ... which is the one I intend to stay in for the rest of my life ... alone or not. Should be in good shape with the only upcoming maintenance I can think of being the possibility that I'll need a new water heater soon. But we'll see, eh?

Played our end of season golf tournament today ... not very successful but still a good time (much better than being at work and the weather was perfect).

Later ...

Beautiful Sunday ...

Very nice out today. Spent quite a bit of time outside as I took a nice 24 mile bicycle ride and, after a cloudy and cool morning, the sun was shining and the breezes were fairly light this afternoon at right around 72 degrees.

I did watch Tiger win the Tour Championship. Never ceases to amaze me, just watching the shots he can make. Otherwise, a rather unremarkable day with the exception that one of the contractors I've talked with about my roof was upset when I asked him for a detailed breakout of his bid. It was like I was impugning his honor/integrity or something. All I have to say is that it's a lot of money and I want to know where it's going. I told him that if the other contractors bidding (next week) had the same problem with my request I'd agree with him. But I think I have the right to ask without him asking if I'm questioning his integrity. That question, actually, now makes me wonder if he has something to hide. He could've simply responded "no, I have a policy about not giving out those details" and I would've accepted that, although I will still ask each contractor that bids. Oh, well ... fact is I do like the product and warranty he has and it's likely I'll go with his bid anyway (although I may ask him for a reduction, why not?).

Looks like a slow night tonight, although this week I've made a lot of progress in reading Vincent Bugliosi's book on the Kennedy assassination. Now that guy has some great common sense and knows how to get the facts together and written down. I'm reading the (lengthy and somewhat pedant) section on the life of Lee Harvey Oswald right now. It's very interesting and gives a lot of insight as to why he was willing and able to kill the President. So maybe I'll get through more of that tonight ... later.

Fall Is Fell ...

Sure can tell there's a chill in the air when I've been out recently ... particularly when riding the bicycle. Guess it's only a week or so until autumn officially starts, so that makes sense. Well, next Saturday I'll be in Chicago taking in a Cubs game with my oldest son ... and he bought the tickets! It's great. And they won again today (in the first game) although I think they have another game tonight.

So how 'bout them Hawks? Can't say today's game surprised me too much as they haven't really had a good test yet ... plus the Iowa State thing always seems to add something. Anyway, I didn't see much of the game as I was watching Tiger in the third round of the Tour Championship where he finished setting a 54 hole PGA tournament record of 191 on rounds of 64-63-64. I figure Tiger's more reliable than the Hawks (or the Cubs) at winning and I couldn't see the Hawks game here at home anyway (the part I did see was out at Pei's). Tiger's just phenomenal and I recommend watching him play in the final round tomorrow (televised on NBC) if you are at all interested in golf.

Got a bid on replacing my shingles with an aluminum roof. It's a pretty hefty cost but it's a one-time thing and it actually does add some value to the house, should I decide to sell it before the life of the roof is up (50 year full warranty). Also, I get a 10% reduction on my homeowner's insurance because it's resistant to hail damage and it's fireproof. Of course, the fact that it qualifies for a $500 tax credit as an energy deduction (if completed by 12/31/07) is also very positive. I'll decide soon but I do plan on removing the old shingles to examine the roof for any possible leakage/damage to the plywood before the new roof is installed. I only mention this because it's an option to install the metal roof right over the old shingles ... but I guess I just don't like that idea.

Ryan called this evening and I talked to him for about 1/2 hour. Interesting enough, another researcher out there (at NC State) was using Scott's master's thesis as a reference for some of the work he was doing on his thesis. Somehow this came out with Ryan and he said he'd really like to talk to Scott about some of the mechanical aspects of his paper (Scott's Master's is in Mechanical Engineering). So Ryan obliged by giving him Scott's email address. Pretty small world, eh? But pretty cool that Scott will now be a reference in someone else's thesis.

Dancing at Walford was pretty fun last night but I only stayed there an hour and then went back to the Red Lion to have a drink and sing a few songs. Turns out there was some available dancing there as well, so it was an extra fun evening.

Well, I better get to a bit of practice on some songs before I go out tonight as I'm not sure at all what I want to sing. The latest I've been working on are "How's The World Treating You" and "When I Could Come Home To You" but they're both fairly sad one's and I need to have a few nice pick-me-up or classic standards/oldies in hand to brighten things up ... and put a smile on at least one person's face in the crowd.

Later ...

Rainy Days & Mondays ...

Yes, it's raining today ... and it is Monday. But it's not too bad because it's a good little test for my new gutter covers and they seem to be working. However, it's been quite a gentle rain so I'm not getting the (needed at some time) "downpour" test ... although I'm sure that will come. I also got some Scott's Turfbuilder so I hope to get that put on sometime in the next couple of days.

Got my teeth cleaned today and looks like I'm going to have to get a new crown. About two weeks ago a piece of tooth just broke off. It's on the upper left side. Interestingly enough, I wasn't even eating anything at the time. I was sitting at my desk at work and just felt a piece of "something" in my mouth and it was the corner of that molar. Well, maybe things just start breaking off if you manage to get old enough (hehe).

Anyway, I decided I didn't feel like challenging the elements today so I'm not riding the bicycle. As fall arrives in force, though, I'll focus on an attitude adjustment to ensure that I "enjoy" the cold rides that will start to be standard fare. But I definitely like the hot, humid weather better than winter.

In roofing news, I called 3 different contractors about metal roofing but none of them answered the phone. I didn't feel like leaving a message today but I probably will tomorrow if I don't get an answer when I call again.

Go Cubbies!

Super Sunday

Interesting afternoon and evening yesterday (Saturday). I did end up mowing the lawn and then decided to ride up to Center Point on highway 150 ... well, I thought, the weather is great so why not? For some reason it takes about 40 minutes for me to make it up there (to the Casey's) and then about 45-47 minutes coming back (at least for the two times I've taken this ride). I think it must be a little downhill going up there (north) and uphill on the way back. In particular, there was virtually no wind yesterday so that wasn't a factor.

Then (after a shower, of course) I went down to Union Station and watched the first quarter of the Iowa game on their huge televisions. But it started getting pretty smoky in there so I left and decided it was time for a hamburger ... naturally leading me to Sammy's. After that I decided to head down to the Red Lion as it was near time for them to start the evening's karaoke. Had a pretty good time there and, in particular, I was very pleasantly surprised when, after asking the hostess, Wendy, if she knew the Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss duet "Whiskey Lullabye" she said "yes" and agreed to sing it with me. That wasn't the real surprise ... which came when we started singing. She not only knew it but did an absolutely amazing job ... what a talent! I'll have to see if she'll do more duets from time to time. Then Joe (the harmonica wielding Fed Ex driver) signed up me, him and Dave to do Seven Bridges Road ... he called it the "Let's Dance" reunion as we all used to sing there and that's where Joe first started playing/singing. That was fun.

Tiger's on the prowl today again, looking to win the BMW championship (part of the FedEx Cup) at Cog Hill (in Chicago). I think he's about 1 under after 4 holes and is 1 shot out of first place. I think he's going to win this ... as he is just playing solidly today (well, no risky prediction there, eh?).

Had a nice, smooth bicycle ride this morning and took another look at my roof today. I'm seriously thinking that it's looking poorly (especially on the south side) and I'm going to call tomorrow to see if I can get a bid or two on a metal roof. There's a few reasons for this line of thought. First, the lifetime of such a roof is at least 2-3 times that of an asphalt roof (some have 30-50 year warranties). Second, there's an energy tax credit available of up to $500. Third, there may be favorable treatment from a house insurance perspective (less of a fire hazard as well as much less likelihood of storm damage). Finally, I'm probably going to just stay in this house forever ... but if it's going to be in the area of as short as 15 years or so, there doesn't seem to me to be any good reason for replacing the shingles yet again (even if it's just to sell the place). Of course, the value of the house should be enhanced a bit by the better quality roof too (hope that doesn't result in higher property taxes though!). Well, we'll see what the options are.

And how 'bout those Cubs!

Later ...

P.S. Well, it's later. Nice TV movie day as I watched the ends of two of my favorite movies, Pure Country and Pretty Woman. Okay, okay ... I guess it's true I'm a sap for happy endings where love wins out. Anyway, more important (anymore) is that Tiger did win today and I went out and played 9 holes of golf late this afternoon. This will be an exciting week as I get my teeth cleaned tomorrow and then ... well, who knows what for the rest of the week (hehe). G'nite.

Fridge Woes, Gutter Goes!

Well, I got an email from Sears and they cancelled my fridge order. So I checked it out with them and it's apparently because they ran out of them due to demand (it was a 15% off Labor Day sale). So now if I reorder I'll just get the regular price. Breaking News! Just in the past few minutes Sears called me from the local store (Cedar Rapids) and said they could fill the order by the 21st of the month or so. They'll match the online sale price and I'll even get a rebate on the delivery cost, so it'll be a better deal. H-mmm, I think the online guy must've contacted the store guy after he heard from me and they decided to get something worked out to make me happy. Well, that's a good idea ... and a good deal ... but I still didn't sign up for the extended warranty stuff. That's really not worth the money.

I got some new gutter leaf guards yesterday and spent this morning installing them. Well, for some unknown reason, I didn't order enough to finish the two small sections of gutter above the front door so I had to order another 5 4-foot pieces. Guess I'll finish that up sometime in the next week. But the minor work remaining can be done using only the step ladder so it shouldn't be too tough. I had some leaf guard stuff in the gutters before but it wasn't working very well so I decided to replace it. This new stuff is called GuttaGuard and it completely covers the gutter except it has a curved lip on the outside that lets the water drop down into the gutter (about a 1/8" gap). I think it will work and it was much cheaper than having something like Gutter Helmet installed.

In recreational news, dancing was fun last night (although I didn't stay very late) and I sang a few songs, had a few more dances (at Red Lion) plus had a margarita at Papa Juan's. Tried calling Ryan this afternoon while I was eating lunch at Pei's since his current school (NC State) was on TV playing Boston College. Thought he might be watching it at home ... but no dice on that. And it's very nice out right now ... I should probably get the lawn mowed and perhaps go for a bike ride. Think I'll go down to Union Station to watch the Hawks play tonight at 7pm (I think they're playing Syracuse ... and it's on the Big Ten Network).

Right now Tiger's in the lead at the BMW Championship of the FedEx Cup playoffs. I think the course is in the Chicago area so they have great weather too. And Tiger is smiling ...

New Fridge Ordered

Well, today I ordered a new refrigerator. Wanted a particular Sears model but I talked to them and they don't make that model (meaning no such top freezer fridge at 33" wide). I prefer the wider fridge however to their new widest size, which is 31", so I simply looked online and found that they sell a nice Whirlpool model (highly rated by Consumer Reports, btw) that is 33" wide and, of course, has an icemaker. The icemaker is one of those things that you just don't want to do without once you've had one. I admit it's not as important as a garage door opener, but it's right up there ;) ...

Anyway, I ordered it today because it's a 15% off Labor Day sale that ends today and I thought "what the heck". My current fridge is still working but I don't want to have to buy one in a panic and this thing is at least 15 years old. Anyone out there that wants the old one can have it if you can haul it away. Otherwise, I'll just have the delivery guys take it with them.

The weather is heating up here, at least for September, as it was in the high 80's today and may be about 90 tomorrow. I like it hot ... and this is probably summer's last hurrah. Now I need to think about the water heater, which is 13 years old. It's also probably good for awhile ... but maybe I'll look around at options and deals, along with the most energy efficient units. I guess the only other thing around here is the roof ... although I think this one still probably has a good 5 years left, the shingles are starting to curl a bit, at least in front, and that's not a good sign. Well, I have time to think about that as well ... guess I'll just continue reading my Harry Potter book.

Great Weather For Biking

Well, of course, the weather's great here today for anything outdoors but it's especially wonderful for biking. Just a slight breeze and, at 10 this morning, about 65 degrees with clear, blue skies. So I started my ride and just kept heading north on Highway 150 (Center Point Road). Ended up riding to Center Point and it's much more efficient (and less dusty) on the road than on the trail. Plus I don't feel compelled to wash the bike and clean the chain since it really doesn't get very dirty riding on regular roads.

I stopped in to the first Casey's store there in Center Point and had a Gatorade, then rode back. There was another rider at the store and we met up again just north of County Home Road, so we rode together for a few miles. He lives up in the new area between Council and C Avenue on the NE side of Cedar Rapids and also rode this year's RAGBRAI. In the end it was a nice 24 mile ride ... meaning I can eat a little more today!

After eating at Subway, I'm taking in the 3rd round of this week's PGA tournament where Tiger is now pretty much on fire (with 4 birdies in his last 5 holes) and has reached 2nd place (occasionally alternating with 1st). Seems like great golfing weather as many of the competitors are shooting low scores today. I think this playoff tournament actually finishes with a Monday round, so we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

And on beautiful days like this, a "young man's fancy" always seems to turn, as they say. Well, for me that means memories, of course ... and when I think back on "the one" woman for me, I remember one thing above all others. And I think it's something that perhaps neither of us really understood ... about me. This is it ... every single time I saw her I fell in love with her again, I know that now. And I was never good at waiting for that moment to happen from day to day. Can you imagine? Falling in love multiple times per week (and we're talking the same woman, here, so get your collective minds out of the gutter, hehe)! What a great thing for anyone to experience. And I *know* that's why it was so difficult to accept knowing that she didn't love me anymore. Because that's true, she didn't love me for 6-10 months before she dumped me, even though she never said that in so many words. Whew! It does feel good to understand this detail ... although it's not something that I feel will ever happen again for me. So if you're wondering how it is that you know, really know, whether or not she is "the one" ... think about how you feel each and every time you see her. And if you fall in love every time ... she's the one. As far as the other half of the equation, well, quite obviously I'm not the one to offer advice about what it is that brings that same feeling to her. Just realize that it may not happen for her ... and it *is* hard to take, but life goes on ... really it does.

Interesting Friday Night

Well, what in interesting evening it was last night. I stopped at Pei's for a soda and then decided to go to the new Kevin Bacon movie, Death Sentence. This is really just a remake of Charles Bronson's "Death Wish" from about 30 years ago. Not really a very good flick, but it's one of those shows where justice is done ... even if there won't be many moviegoers that take this in. I rate it about a C- ...

Then I went down to the Red Lion and, lo and behold, who's there but Kohl Packingham. He graduated in Scott's class, I think, and he was sitting there having a beer when I stopped up at the bar. He recognized me right away and we talked for a few minutes. He does electrician work and has been doing that for 7+ years now. He's still very slim and looked like he was doing well. I told him about what the boys were doing and that was about it. Well, I was going to give him their email addresses but when I looked for him a few minutes later he'd already left (I think he went to either Prime Time or Gator's across the street). Oh well.

Then some group turned in 3 song requests for the hosts at karaoke and they didn't know any of the songs, so they asked if I did and would do them. And I did (I didn't know them well, but a song's a song) ... so that was fun. Still have a hoarseness in my throat though ... it's been there since RAGBRAI (I think I posted on this about a month ago) and haven't been comfortable singing since then. I think maybe I just need to get more sleep.

H-mmm, well, I was asked (again, that's twice this year) if I was gay. Apparently this question comes up in some people's minds because I seem to almost always be out without a gal. All I can do is smile.

... later.

New Best Time of 45:26

Yes, another new record. Reminds me of that Russian weight lifter that used to beat his record by 1/2 kilo every big match. He set the world heavyweight record about 50 times in his career (hehe). Well, I don't think I'll ever get that prolific but I did ride the short (14.2 mile) course today and hit 45:26, beating my old best time by 22 seconds. With an average speed of 18.75 mph, it's also interesting that the speed for the 2nd half (7.1 miles) of the ride was 20.06 mph. Still, all in all, I don't think I'll get 20 mph for the entire ride anytime soon (that would result in a time of 42:36, although that would be pretty good.

Now I'm just a little tired of Microsoft producing (yet another huge piece of) bloatware ... this time they're calling it Vista. The main "benefit" that I can see, besides eye candy, is a little bit of extra security functionality and some enhancements to the graphics interface, called DX10. Meanwhile, to "support the Operating System" (notice, this is not supporting running your own applications faster) virtually all users need to go out and buy either a beefier PC (again, remember Windows XP?) or add a gigabyte or two of additional memory. Sheesh! Anyway, with the advent of the new Intel processor Macs, I'm seriously thinking about switching, perhaps I'll get a Mac next winter. A bit nearer on the horizon would be the easy (and cheap) route of going to Linux (which is open source ... free) and a dual boot system (WinXP & Linux). By the way, Windows XP will not be available installed on new PC's starting this fall and Microsoft plans to end production and sales of XP by January, 2008. So I ordered a "closeout" version of WinXP Pro in order to make sure I have a copy for perhaps dual booting a Mac. I found it for $106 online (don't go to Best Buy, they still want $299 for the non-upgrade version of XP Pro).

Well, better get a shower here and decide what to do this evening. Tough to sing with this hoarseness in my throat ... it still hasn't gone away since RAGBRAI. Probably because I've been singing a little more, meaning more time in a bar (smoky) environment. But it still makes me smile ...

Later ...

Thought for Today

Regarding religion and its reliance on dogma (definition: noun. a religious doctrine that is proclaimed as true without proof), there is this to say: "what can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence". This quote is attributed to Christopher Hitchens.

Hard Drive Woes/Magic ... Success!

Well, the title of this post says quite a bit ... herein a few details, although it will be pretty boring for anyone without some level of PC "geekness" . I've grown quite fond of my little Gateway Laptop. It's about 5 years old and it sometimes shows its age (1 GHz Pentium III w/512MB memory). But it works well and has been a consistent performer. However, one big drawback is the small (and slow) hard drive. It's only 30 GB at 4200 RPM. That's been an annoyance from time to time, but especially when working with large audio files (such as when I'm converting LP's to .mp3 or .ogg format files, first saving them as .wav). Anyway, I've long been pretty sure that I was going to have to update the drive soon and, lately, I started running out of space in the Windows partition again. Therefore, I ordered a new 100 GB PATA laptop drive and a device from Apricorn that converts the ATA interface to USB. The idea is to clone the existing hard drive to the USB (new) drive and then install the new one and carry one.

Well, so far so good ... as I started this process on Friday, August 24. And note that I both defragged (the c: partition) and ran chkdsk on the old drive before starting the cloning process (no errors detected). The trouble started when I used PartitionMagic to increase the size of the Windows partition on the newly installed (and working) drive. It came up with "Error 983" and the drive then failed to boot into Windows. Nor would it boot in SAFE mode. All I could glean from the boot error message screen (present for less than 1 second) was "UNMOUNTABLE BOOT VOLUME". Well, I spent a significant amount of time online and downloaded some utilities to diagnose the drive with but couldn't get a clear answer as to what I should do about it. Furthermore, this PC will not boot from the CD ... which is what I really needed to do so I could run Acronis and do a roundabout save/restore of the (still good and working) original drive. Finally, today, I found a place online that discussed this CD fail booting issue and there were some details to allow creation of a "BootManager" floppy. This was just what I needed. So I actually created a Windows 98 boot floppy and added the boot manager code to it. At that point I could boot up the floppy and then tell the system to boot from the CD ... problem solved! So, finally, I saved an image of the entire drive to an external drive and then restored it to the failed (non-bootable) new hard drive. In this case, I also restored the Master Boot Record/Track 0 onto c: ... lo and behold, the drive booted up! This was heady stuff for me because I'd been doing a lot of research on it all day yesterday as well (gets to be tiring).

OK, so now the new drive boots (again), but what to do about resizing the Windows partition? During the Acronis image restore process, several errors were documented by the restore utility ... even though the restore worked. But I checked another forum regarding the PartitionMagic 983 errors and finally found a clue where, surprisingly enough, one guy recommended running chkdsk via MS-DOS (command line). I had originally run it through the windows interface ... and I'm now convinced that the DOS commandline version is a more thorough test of the hard drive. At any rate, it *did* discover a Bitmap error and corrected it. After that I was able to successfully run PartitionMagic, increase the size of the windows partition and now all is well. This much speedier (7200 RPM) hard drive is a good investment as I can see many applications loading up much more quickly. It's a real pleasure ... and, yes, it brings a smile to my face.

The Bridges of Madison County

Today was a good day ... golf with Larry this afternoon. Not the greatest golf game, but very much better, as they say, than being at work. We played at Ellis and it was *very* humid. I still think I did pretty well running up the hills vs. Larry's cart!

Then this evening I decided to pick up a few groceries but I stopped over at Pei's for a Rum & Coke before going to Target. Becoming, almost instantly, very relaxed, I absent mindedly diddled with the TV controller (since no one else was in the bar at the time) and happened upon the movie "The Bridges of Madison County". This reminded me of a recent journey out to western Iowa to see (and photograph) all the remaining covered bridges. Also visited the birthplace of John Wayne. At the time I was with someone that I believed was in love with me. That turned out to not be true but today's movie brought all of those feelings back to me again. In fact, I actually recognized one of the bridges in the movie (although I think the main bridge actually burned down sometime after the movie was shot). Sometimes, no matter how sure you are you've let go, your heart thinks otherwise ... how can that be? Anyway, I'm here to testify that, given enough pain, it really doesn't matter what the heart thinks ... best not to listen to falsehoods, of any type. But it does manage to remove the smiles from this day ...

Speaking of which, there is a good dance friend of mine that won't date me because she's "trying something" with another guy. Now this guy really doesn't seem happy when he's out there dancing with her. What's with that? She's pretty special, in her own way, and I hope he truly sees and appreciates that. Hopefully he'll be smiling more as time goes by.

Tonight I think I'll practice a few songs and then maybe go out for one more drink ... and an evening smile. As life goes, being alone is actually a pretty easy situation ... I really am getting used to it.

Oh, by the way! My eldest son is flying in to Chicago in September and bought me a ticket for the Cubs last homestand on Saturday, September 22. Well, it *could be* that they'll be competing for the pennant, right ? It will be a good time ... and I'm confident there won't be any rain that Saturday. G'day mates!

Century Completed ... Again

Finished another century ride yesterday. I must say that I could feel the humidity though. I didn't get started as early as I wanted to and so that cost perhaps an extra hour in the hot, humid afternoon. At any rate, the ride covered 102.4 miles and it took me 7h 48min. It was different in that I don't think I ate as much of the right stuff for carbs. I say that because this time there is a little stiffness in the legs and that doesn't happen if you are eating properly on the ride. I'll have to look that up in my nutrition book again and reproduce my original food list for next time. I lost 5 pounds of liquid weight on this ride even though I drank almost a gallon ... so I'm sure I was sweating much more this time around. Well, it was a good time to do it and I've accomplished my goal of three of these rides for the summer (RAGBRAI in July and one each century ride in June and August).

Of course, all this means that I have to do laundry today as well as mow the lawn, things that I put off yesterday. But that works for me. Unfortunately, I think I had some "real" grass die and now there's quite a good deal of water or "quack" grass growing in the front yard. There's no selective herbicide way to get ride of that and so I'm resigned to using Roundup on it, raking it out and then re-seeding that area. I've decided that it will be therapeutic, even though I don't normally spend much time on the yard. This is a good lesson and, in the future, I'll not let the grass go more than a few weeks without watering it when it's dry like it was earlier this summer. And, since it's therapeutic, it will put a smile on my face ...

New 15 Mile Route

Well, today I turned left instead of (my usual) right at the end of Toddville Road and found an interesting road that crosses I-380 somewhat north of the Toddville exit (where I usually cross on my standard training run). Then it hits Center Point Road and I can ride back home on the final third just like the old route. The difference is that the new riding route adds about .8 miles so now it's almost exactly 15 miles in length. This is a very nice number (although it's not prime ). And I tried out my new wireless Mavic Cyclocomputer today ... it worked fine. However, when I installed it (yesterday), I found that it was not communicating with the wireless cadence counter. So I sent that back and they're sending me a new one via UPS. Hopefully it will be here tomorrow. I thought about removing the front (lowboy) rack today but I think I'll leave it on for awhile yet as I haven't given up on the idea of doing another century this weekend and I'd want to put bags on the front for that. I'd like to do the 100-mile ride just because I have more experience now and I'm in much better shape after RAGBRAI, so it would be interesting to compare it to the first one I did earlier this spring. One good check mark in the experience column is that I've learned how to relax my neck and shoulder muscles while riding. On short (1-2 hours) rides it doesn't matter much but when going more than 50 miles I start to notice a "pain in the neck" ... and I figured out how to keep that from happening while on RAGBRAI.

NewsFlash! Ryan sent me a note that BestBuy has the last two Matrix DVD's on sale so I went over there after work and, sure enough, they were there and for only $3.99 each. I guess they're trying to get rid of DVD's as they want to make shelf room for HD disks. By the way, in the long run I think that Blu-Ray will win the format wars but it'll probably get to be a pretty cheap option to have players that handle HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. However, I expect that people will likely be stuck with renting, for example, only Blu-Ray from some rental places and only HD-DVD from others (and maybe both from yet others). Well, we'll see. But Blu-Ray has more storage space and allows for more encryption/content control capability, so that's why it'll probably win. From a TV perspective, 1080P is going to be tops and the latest LCD TV's are coming out with 120Hz refresh rates, which is great for action movies, etc. I think Samsung is one of the manufacturer's there and those latest feature TV's will probably cost more (maybe close to $3000 for 40-inch) for awhile.

Well, quiet night as I've worked out and then went out to Pei's to eat dinner. No golf today as Larry is sick and Scott (the other guy in our league 3-some) is on vacation ... so I'll probably see if Larry and I can play on Thursday or Friday afternoon. And I'll have my new driver by Thursday (look out Tiger!)

Maybe I'll take a look at the Matrix Reloaded movie.

Good night ...

Days In The Sun ... 45:29!

Today, I went to the new movie, The Bourne Ultimatum. It's a good action movie. And it's consistent with the preceding movies. I also have now purchased the books (by Robert Ludlum) as I'm confident they will be good reading.

Interestingly enough, my weight today was down to 155 ... fully 4 pounds less than on my return from RAGBRAI one week ago today. I'm eating 2500-3000 calories a day and I've played golf twice, danced for a few hours and only ridden 43 miles since that return. Not a great amount of exercise ... so it's a mystery to me. Well, I guess all I can do is eat more and enjoy it, eh?

Today I did my laundry, mowed the lawn and then changed the chain on the bicycle. I have almost 2100 miles of riding in this year with 1800 of that on the TriCross. The chain stretch was right at 1% so it was time. The new chain is a Shimano HG73 (same as the original equipment on the bike) but I'm going to look in to availability of, perhaps, an SRAM chain for the future. I think that there are other chains out there that last longer than the HG73 ... and I also like SRAM's standard "SuperLink" for easily breaking the chain. This facilitates removing it for more thorough cleaning and I'm using a Shimano compatible SuperLink with the new chain. I haven't ridden hard on it yet, but it was quiet and smooth shifting in my quick test ride. Hopefully, the new chain will extend the life of the cogs and chainrings. I also washed the bike ... and it has been raining today ... kind of a fitful spitting of the clouds, for the most part. Perhaps reflecting the melancholy I'm feeling this weekend. And, yes, I still want more days in the sun .

At this point, my throat is still hoarse, but for unknown reason(s). This started in the middle of RAGBRAI last week. I don't seem to have a cold of any sort, nor strep, as far as I can tell. But it keeps me from singing and, of course, that's not good.

At this point (about 6:15pm), I'm watching my DVD of "300". It's pretty good ... but, of course, definitely *not* a chick flick. And I'm thinking about my new driver, which I'll be trying out "in combat" during golf league on Tuesday.

This week, my son sent me a 3 DVD set of "Underdog" shows . I've always liked that cartoon ... it'll be fun to watch. Of course, the other great show (from college, primarily) is "Rocky and Bullwinkle" ... not sure if they have any DVD's out of that.

Well, at this point, I have several books to read ... the Bourne trilogy, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and Daniel Dennett's "Darwin's Dangerous Idea". And, of course, I have several more DVD's to watch as time permits. I find that I enjoy the reading most ... but tend to spend more time singing than anything else. However, with my voice out of commission, I will certainly read more ... h-mmm, that's worth a smile.

PostScript: At about 7 tonight, I just got tired of not riding and so I went for a test run with the new chain. And I broke my old best time by more than a minute, from 46:48 to 45:29 (about 18.7 mph average). There was a fairly brisk east wind, which negatively affects the second half of the ride but helps the first half. In fact, I reached the 5 mile point in about 14 minutes and halfway (7.1 miles) in about 23.5 minutes. So you just never know when all systems are going to be "go" for a record ... eh?

Weight Control ... UP!

Well, surprisingly enough (to me), my weight has dropped 2 lbs. since completing RAGBRAI last Saturday. I'm eating good and no issue with the number of calories. So I'm wondering if a solid week of very heavy exercise like that actually revs up a person's basal metabolic rate. Maybe I'm really consuming calories at a much higher rate because my body has adapted to what it saw as a consistent and permanent change. I don't know, but my weight was 157 this morning and I'm definitely not trying to drop below 159. So I ate more this evening and I'll do the same for the next few days.

I also ordered a new driver from the golf shop. Should be ready by Tuesday and, if not, it's identical to one they have there and I've been told I can use that for league next Tuesday as a temporary alternate. It's a bit shorter than the one I've been using and it feels good. I just need something I can hit 240-260 yards very consistently with ... and then, I promise, I'll be happy and stop offending the golf gods regarding the quality of my driving .

I got a new bicycle cyclometer today that got wireless speed sensor and wireless cadence. It's a Mavic WinTech unit but the main computer was DOA so I had to figure that out and the screw around for awhile before contacting the merchant to see what to do. They're sending out a replacement unit but I had to go out to UPS and send this one in to them (meanwhile, they've charged me for the replacement and will credit it when they get the failed unit back). So that put my riding time way behind today but it also means that I won't have that all set up to use for the weekend. Well, I guess I'll just do my planned chain replacement (this chain has almost 2000 miles on it and it has stretched about 1%, so it's time) this weekend and we'll see how the weather is regarding a potential ride to Waterloo. Looks to me like that might have to be Sunday instead of Saturday ... if I go ahead with it. Otherwise, I'll reset for next weekend.

Guess I better chomp a few more calories and get myself some extra rest tonight. I plan on going dancing tomorrow night ... bet it's been three weeks since I've done that and it's high time! Always makes me smile, of course ...

RAGBRAI 2007 Completed!

Right from the top of this post I have to say that RAGBRAI is a very interesting experience. It was fun meeting new people, fun testing the bicycle (and its load) and the various systems of my body. It was fun to be able to eat so much for so many days in a row. That said, I'm not sure that I'll be too hep on doing it again ... but I have an open mind on that. One reason I would is that I've already been working on how to reduce my pack load to see if I can get everything essential for camping/riding into two pannier bags and the (rear) rack bag. It would be fun to try that out.

As for food, there was certainly no lack of that. My favorite was the homemade ice cream (Beekman's) ... of which I had raspberry and vanilla flavors. I have to give vanilla the nod here. The roadside food stops were pretty light on cantaloupe (one of my favorites) but there was plenty of watermelon (although not always seedless). In Fairbank, there was one stop with "all you can eat" cantaloupe/watermelon for $1. That was such a good deal ... for me!

My total riding distance was 490 miles with 40.9 hours of actual riding time during the 7 day period. The route itself was pretty benign except for the last day, which was fairly hilly. Overall, the weather was excellent with rain occurring only one night (in Independence) and that was a night I got an indoor room/bed to sleep in. And I must say that it is nice to not have to take the time to setup/breakdown the tent.

I saw one guy (Jean Oliphant) that I'd last seen in 1979 when we both worked in the CSSD group at Collins in Cedar Rapids. That was the year that engineering moved to Aurora, IL (outside of Chicago) and I chose to move over to Government Avionics (now Government Systems) and work on GPS. It was a good choice for me. Anyway, this bike was in front of me with its little identification form on the back and I recognized Jean's name plus his hometown of Aurora, IL ... so I pulled up beside him and introduced myself. He remembered me right away and we talked for a few minutes. But almost all the folks he asked about did *not* work in my area and I don't know what happened to them (Jim Sawyer, Larry Akins, several others).

I also ended up riding beside Terry Smith (one of the original GPS engineers) for awhile and we talked. He's over in Commercial Avionics and said he was riding in his 8th consecutive RAGBRAI. Cool.

Although Theresa Jasa was riding, we started each day at different times (I found out that I was generally the earlier starter) and I never say her on the ride. I did see Paul Adam and got a picture of him. One of these days I'll update the website to put on some RAGBRAI pictures of mine as well as (perhaps) contributions from others.

Physically, this ride was not a problem and I'll probably do another century ride up to Waterloo in the near future as it's pretty easy to do when you're in shape. My butt was in very good shape but I will say that I used the Chamois Butt'r and it did feel good. Most of the time, the outstanding issue was that the ride got a bit boring ... even though you had to keep your eyes open and your wits about you from time to time to avoid getting into an accident. Mechanically, everything worked on the bike except the cadence sensor on the speedometer. I'm going to have to return that unit as it seems Specialized has a batch of bad sensors and I've been trying to get a replacement for 3 months. However, it had been working acceptably until the start of RAGBRAI (of course), when it completely failed. My goal is to get a unit with reliable wireless speed and cadence sensors.

Best town ... probably Eagle Grove. They had a ton of old cars and also a BatCycle, plus a Mayberry theme with tapes playing and a jail with Otis available for photo op (although I didn't get any pictures here). This town was very fun and made me feel the most welcome.

Overall, the experience rates a big smile and, of course, a big thank you to Carol and to Larry for taking me out to the start and picking me up at the end, respectively, of the ride. I suppose I'll know I'm *really* in shape when I ride the bicycle out to the start and then ride back to Cedar Rapids after RAGBRAI is done. Well, just so no one gets anxious about when this will happen, it is *not* one of my life's goals. All I have to say is that there doesn't seem to be enough time to get things done ... even meeting people and/or going out on dates ... but there's still enough time to smile. More later.

Ready To Roll

Finally, time to relax after a hectic 10 days of finding a RAGBRAI registration for sale on the internet, actually buying it, getting it (yesterday) in the mail and getting all the rest of my riding equipment lined up. Well, I'm not going to use the Bob trailer ... opted for the pannier bags instead. Everything (just barely) fits and it makes for a more easily controlled bicycle ... I think that's important for me as a RAGBRAI rookie.

Before any water is added, the load on the bike is 52 lbs. Estimated 3 lbs. for water and it's 55 lbs. With me at 160, that still a respectably light 215 lb. load on a bike that weighs 30 lbs (including front and rear racks and aero bar. The main load (I heard that! I mean the main load apart from me! hehe) is split with about 3 lbs. more weight on the left than the right side and 29 of the 52 lbs on the rear wheel. I'll think a bit more about balancing that load and it may be as simple as swapping left and right panniers on the rear wheel (just need to make sure my heels don't hit the bags when they're swapped).

Wheels up for Rock Rapids at 7am tomorrow (July 21) and should arrive there between 12 and 12:30. I expect it may take awhile to get through the checkin line but I think that needs to happen before I can figure out where I'll be camping Saturday night. It'll be good to just have a little spot somewhere that I can call "home" for the night.

Well, I better get some sleep now as I've been dozing in my chair this evening. I'm pretty relaxed now that the preparation is complete ... and this is going to be quite an experience. I'll report on it after RAGBRAI is over since I'm not bringing a PC along. I should have at least some pictures to post also. Guess it'll be time to update my website again.

Later ...

On To RAGBRAI XXXV

Well, I think it's gonna happen. I got word today that the registration from a gal in Florida that can't make it up for RAGBRAI is being sent to me and should arrive here by Thursday or so of this week. I also have all the information I need to transfer her registration to my name. Today I've been trying to figure out if I can eliminate the bike trailer I've been testing out and just use front/back panniers. It looks like I can do it if I strap the sleeping bag, tent and ground cover on the rack behind the seat. Thank goodness for bungee cords!

It's a much better deal if I can pull it off because the bike will ride better with the 4 bags and extra load on the rear rack than it will with the trailer in tow. The only thing I'm really missing right now is a good quality tire pump ... and I've got a Road Morph coming via UPS 2nd day air by tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest.

I think I'll mail in the registration material as that will cover me if I end up not connecting up with the RAGBRAI registration folks on Saturday (not to mention that that place will be a zoo) ... it will definitely be an interesting week, with the ride starting on Sunday, July 22 and completing on Saturday, July 28. All I can say is that I'm very fortunate to be able to ride at all since I didn't register for this before the deadline. So thanks again to Kathie (from Florida) although I'm also sorry she didn't get to go on the ride ... at least she was able to put a smile on my face!

Oh, and if you want to check out the route, etc., just go to http://www.ragbrai.org/ and they'll have all the details. I'll get something in this blog when I get back and I also plan to update my website with some pictures ... but I will not bring along anything to let me do real time stuff. If I do this again next year that'll be something new to try, but no promises!

Time to get a good night's sleep ... zz-z-z-z-z-z

Friday the 13th ... New Best Time

Good weather again today! About 80 degrees and light breeze from the north. The result was a new best time of 46:46 on my regular route. Average speed about 18.2 mph.

In other biking news, I hooked up my Bob Yak bicycle trailer today and it seems to work OK. I'm considering riding RAGBRAI ... if the logistics stuff gets set up right. I've gone from about 25% positive to maybe 70%. I've also arranged to get a weekly pass from a rider in Florida who unexpectedly can no longer make the trip up here to Iowa. So if I don't go I'll be out $100 (for the weekly pass) but the trailer is a good investment and will allow me to bring along some tools, a sleeping bag, tent, etc., along with extra stuff in my panniers, if needed. My primary concern is good nutrition during the ride as the physical part will be a challenge, but one that I'm very prepared for.

Anyway, if I do end up riding then I'll be sure to take pictures, although I don't intend to bring along equipment that will let me do uploads on a daily basis. I'll probably add a page to my website for any pictures I would get.

I've also become aware of a neat flavor treat (and it's also, as is my usual requirement, easy to make) called a banana smoothie. There's a powder package I picked up at Target and you simply add ice cubes, a large banana and 10 oz. of milk. Blend well ... and it makes a quart of very tasty and very "smooth" stuff. Looks like dancing and singing are on the agenda tonight ... with tomorrow perhaps being a night off ... as I don't think I've been getting enough sleep in the past few weeks and it would be good to catch up this week. Especially if I end up going on RAGBRAI starting next weekend.

Finally, I sent out my eldest son's birthday present today. I'm sure he'll find a surprise in the packaging as well as the contents and ... he'll probably smile about it all. That is, after all, the goal for every day ...