Dancing, Biking, Singing ... It's A Life

Well, finally! Yes, today's ride came in at 46:48 with the last 2 miles in about 5:40. It's so much easier to ride when the temperature is 77 instead of 87+ and those darn winds are not a factor.

Tonight I'm looking forward to dancing in Dubuque. It's a place I've never been before ... should be fun and tomorrow is movie day. Going to see Shrek 3 followed by wine, bread and some karaoke ... with, no doubt, a bit of dancing too. No question about it ... it will be a good time.

Got a front pannier bracket for the bike today so I'll probably put that on this weekend. It'll be nice to be able to move the bags to the front and maybe have a more balanced ride if I need both front and back panniers for a longer ride. Now, I still don't plan on riding RAGBRAI this year but, interestingly enough, I just got a notice for jury duty starting the Monday after RAGBRAI week. Most of the time, in my experience, lawyers don't want rational objectivity on a jury so they typically exclude engineering types. So, even if I do actually get called down to the courthouse, I don't think I'll make it onto an actual jury. I think it would be an interesting experience to actually be on a case though ... I guess we'll see what happens. Of course I'll report it all here (careful, don't fall off the edge of your chair waiting for that! hehe). I plan on smiling quite a bit this weekend ... later.

Thursday Thoughts-47:06 ... Updated

Well, it's early in the morning on Thursday. Just decided it was time to write something. Now I should spend a minute or two commenting on the title of my last post. Using the description "Fantastic" there was somewhat tongue in cheek as far as describing the results of golfing the past weekend. It was my attempt at a play on words, as it tied in to the fact that I saw the "Fantastic" 4 movie ... so I don't want to get a thousand comments about how "average" (or really lousy if you look at the Saturday score) the golfing results really were, wondering if I've finally gone completely off my rocker (besides, hehe, that happened long, long ago ...).

So what's it feel like to write here so early in the morning ... well, it feels ... early! I'm usually up at 5am as I like to get to work and then get home in the afternoon so I can ride bike (even when the sun sets much earlier in the fall, winter or spring) *and* see the sun at the same time. But what has happened this early in the day? I must report that nothing much happened ... I always step on the scale in the morning and today it showed me at 159 pounds. That's such a good weight for me (as I've commented before). I intend to stay at 160 +/-2 pounds from now on.

I might add that yesterday was a very bright day as I received some very nice emails from a friend who had been on vacation ... and was thought about . There was also a discussion about dancing, singing and the possibility of a red dress coming along ... it was good. Not much in the way of plans for tonight, although I'll probably sing a song or two at City Beat. I'm thinking I should trim the bushes in front of my house too ... perhaps after my bicycle ride this afternoon. And finally, I'm considering another century ride ... perhaps to Waterloo but maybe to other locations around and south of here (instead of north).

Update ... had a very good ride today. It was cool out with light winds from the northeast. I easily did my usual 14.2 mile ride in 47:06. It's only a matter of time until 47:00 falls ... eh? Guess I was in particularly good spirits. Seems that attitude has as much to do with it as anything ... and isn't that always the way it really is? One of these days, now, I need to put a new picture on my profile as this one is approaching 1 year old. H-mmm, should I get a haircut first or not?

Golf Results-Fantastic?

Not the greatest golfing weekend for either Larry or me. Having shot 101 in drizzly, sloppy conditions at Ellis on Saturday it felt more and more like the best idea would be to not finish on Sunday. Well, that didn't sit very well with me so I headed out to hit balls and get to a 9:30 tee time for the Jones course portion of the tournament on Sunday. Turns out that Larry was scheduled for the 9:40 tee time but they had several folks drop out so they moved the remaining two people at 9:40 and Larry came to my group (otherwise we'd have only had 2) while the other guy moved to the 9:50 group.

Anyway, I shot 41/40-81 and that wasn't too bad. I could've easily gotten it to about 78 but for a few putts. Anyway, it's done now and I won't be playing any more two day tourney's this year. In some ways it's much more fun to ride bicycle ... which does keep me from practicing my golf swing. Besides that I need to go out dancing pretty regularly. H-mmm, should go out to Walford tonight if they have a dance ... but I'm kinda missing my regular dance partner so maybe I'll wait and just take a long bubble bath tonight. That much golf does make one ache a bit.

Well, better get to eating a bit of dinner ... although Larry and I did stop (at his request) at the downtown BBQ Roundup this afternoon. Man, that stuff is good! I just can't start getting into that on a regular basis or I'd have to start riding 50 miles a day !!

Tonight I decided to take a rare trip to the moviehouse, alone, and I saw the new Fantastic Four movie. It's pretty good ... and they even reveal the real name of the Silver Surfer. Next movie up is Shrek 3 ...

Final thought today ... "to be, or not to be ... and, if 'to be', will it be worth it?" At the end of the movie "Hitch", Hitch (Will Smith) throws himself out in front of his girl's (Sara, played by Eva Mendes) car and ends up lying on the pavement (she was leaving him). She jumps out and asks him what he think's he's doing. And he said words to the effect that sometimes we simply leap ... hoping that we learn to fly. And she's the only woman that can make him fly. That's the woman I'm looking for. And, yes, it will be worth it ... good night.

Chain Gang and New Tires

Last night after my normal late afternoon bicycle ride, I installed my new Specialized Armadillo tires. These have a Kevlar band on them and are touted to be the best at preventing puncture flats. I've had 2 flats in the past 8 weeks and it's a pain to keep dealing with that so I think this is a good time and aggravation saver investment. In the process of changing the tires I also washed the bike and cleaned the chain, derailleurs and gears. It was really pretty straightforward to clean the rear hub with a rag when the wheel was off the bike for the tirechange anyway. With almost 1200 miles this spring (almost 1000 on the new bike alone), I expect I'll put a new chain on sometime this summer ... maybe at around 2000 miles. What I've read on this is that keeping the chain in good shape (clean and lubed) goes a long way towards enhancing the longevity of the chainring and cassette gears. When they wear down the chain will make noise and often shift on its own. Also the chain will wear out much more quickly. So the goal is to keep everything in the best shape and avoid having to change the gears for as long as possible (at least 5000 miles, I hope). But don't worry ... I'm on it!

Well, my weight is now at 161 and edging toward 160 ... which is my final goal. That's right near the midpoint of my "normal" BMI range (at 160 my BMI is 22.7), which is a pretty accurate indicator for me since I have a "normal" body type (i.e., I'm not "big boned" like Eric Cartman, etc., hehe).

By the way, today is officially the first day of summer as the summer solstice occurs in the northern hemisphere at about 1:07pm CDT. It's the longest day of the year so ... party on! And think about how lucky we are to not be living in, say, the dead of winter in Australia right now (although I'm OK with winter, too). Or, worse, the fact that in Antarctica, morning will not arrive until August 20 (they have about 4 straight months of no sunlight). Yes, we are *so* fortunate! Also, I hope everyone took a look at the western sky at around 10pm last night (June 20) ... nice line up of the waxing crescent moon along with Saturn and Venus.

I'm looking forward to this afternoon's ride on the new tires and a clean bike (there was a lot of trail dust on it from Saturday's ride to Waterloo). Sometime soon I need to spend some quality time re-calibrating the speedometer as I'm pretty sure the new tires will have a few more millimeters of roll per revolution. But I'll be able to compute a pretty good answer at the end of tonight's ride (since the distance of my usual workout is well known) ... at least to the point of matching it up with the old calibration. A little thing, I know, but it will bring a smile to my face ...

P.S. The new tires and the drivetrain lube all worked well. The calibration was still right on for the speedometer. And, although the forecast was for a 70% chance of possibly severe thunderstorms this afternoon, the 30% side won out and my ride was easily completed. Finally, I cleaned and cut up a new batch of strawberries today ... very good on ice cream, especially with a modicum of Hershey's topping.

Tires ... H-mmm

Well, I was going to take yet another (that would be 3 days in a row) off from riding after golf this afternoon but then I just got this itch to ride so I threw on my stuff and went out to the garage ... got on the bike and ... the front tire was flat! This is very cool. Because what must've happened is near the end (probably the last mile here in town) of the 100 mile ride on Saturday I must have picked up a small piece of glass or something and there was an extremely slooooow leak. So it got me home and then went flat in the garage. And I say that's pretty damn considerate!

But I still wanted to ride so decided to change the tire right there. Then I decided I'd actually patch the tube ... since I have this nice patch kit that's about 12 years old and I've never used it (always just put in a new tube). Next helpful revelation: somewhere along the way a small hole was poked in the tube of glue from the patch kit and the glue simply evaporated. There was nothing there! I would've been *very* disappointed if I'd been out in the middle of nowhere and had to patch a tire for some reason ... because I would've been SOL. So, fortunately, I can now get a new tube of glue and the kit will be ready to go again.

Then, of course, *after* I'd just finished putting the wheel back on the bike, the phone rings (I'm still in the garage) and I run inside to grab it and it's the bike shop calling to say my new Armadillo tires are in. As you might guess from the name, the tires are the closest thing there is to puncture proof. They have a band of kevlar around the outer part of the tire. Well, they're a bit heavier than the regular tires but I think they'll effectively be the end of flats (and I've had two in the last 8 weeks) ... and I don't care too much about the weight anyway because I'm not racing (well, mostly ... hehe) the bike.

Yesterday was a fun day but I was still tired in the afternoon so I just took a nap when I got home from work. Then went on a little out of town dinner excursion and didn't get home until 11pm. But the nap was still holding me up fine and I slept very well last night. Not a great day at golf today, by the way, but hopefully the Cedar Rapids Senior AM Tourney will go better for Larry and me this weekend. I also have tickets for the free country concert Sunday evening but I don't think I'm going to go this year. Might be more fun to go dancing somewhere than to an outdoor concert ... well, guess I'll think about it some more.

Not much else going on right now ... but I'm a slight bit hungry and very thirsty after the ride and the golf this afternoon. Eating always makes me smile ...

Century Ride Completed

Total miles today on the bicycle are 103. The ride to Waterloo was fairly uneventful. Starting at 6:30 this morning, I stopped only 1/2 hour into the ride to help a guy (named Don) finish fixing a flat tire. Total riding time was 7 hours 2 minutes for about a 14.7 mph average. The trip time was about 8.5 hours, resulting in a resting and re-fueling time total of about an hour and a half.

Feels pretty good to be done with that ride and it wasn't as boring as it could've been. Sandra from dance talked to me earlier in the week after reading about my plans in this blog and said she'd meet me in Brandon and then ride back in if that was OK. Well, of course it was so that was pretty cool. No injuries but my neck/shoulders are somewhat stiff and my right foot is a bit sore at the ball of the foot (probably from the unchanging pedaling pressure point introduced by the clipless pedals). But the bike worked flawlessly and I took a nice bubble bath after getting home. Also, lucky here, it rained pretty good around 4pm ... so it was good that I didn't dally any about getting going this morning (that said, I didn't get to bed until about 1:30 and up at 5:30 so probably could use some extra zzz's).

I estimated/measured that this workout burned about 3996 calories and I haven't made those up yet ... so I'm off to eat something, with a smile, of course.

0:48 Falls Easily!

Well, I broke through the 48 minute barrier today. Averaged about 18mph with a finish time of 47:20 for the 14.25 mile route. It was pretty easy to do, with an average heart rate of 142 and a peak of 171 (that was a tough hill!). Well, I guess the next barrier must be 47 minutes. Cool.

Got most of the stuff ready for the century ride tomorrow. How early I get started is probably going to be driven by how late I'm out tonight. For example, if I go dancing and it's really boring or there aren't many singles there to dance with, then I'll probably be in bed early and I'll be out of here by 6am. But if it's a real good time then I might stay later than I really should and won't get going that early. That said, early is really going to be better as the temp and humidity will both be very high starting late in the morning tomorrow. My secret carb weapons include ... Yes! you guessed it ... M&M's and Hot Tamales! Well, at least if I get desperate I'll certainly go to them. I am worried about the M&M's melting ... h-mmm, better use a ziplock bag. At least then I'd simply have some liquid chocolate without it getting on all my other stuff in the pannier. Oh, I forgot, M&M's melt only in your mouth ... not in your hand. Well, OK then, but what if they're actually not in my hand either? I suspect they will, actually, melt in that case. Guess we'll have to see. I have a few cooler packs but they'll only partially work for the way up to Waterloo. Not going to be a factor at all coming back as they'll be all in meltdown mode. Well, it will be interesting.

I figure I need about 60 grams of carbs per hour as I ride. That should be easy to accomplish ... along with 16-20 ounces of liquid (gatorade and water) every hour. And I need to be sure to have sunblock on so that I'm not all burned out for golf on Sunday morning, eh? To be honest, I'm not sure I'll go golfing on Sunday ... but if not, I'll let the rest of the 4-some know Saturday night (before I go out singing, hehe). They have the idea that we should all practice at Ellis golf course before the Senior City Am tournament starts for us next Saturday. My thought is that if I play well I will probably have wasted a bunch of good shots that would've served me well at the actual tournament (i.e., I'm only allocated so many good shots in my life and when a goodly amount of them happen to occur on the same day, I have a very good round ... otherwise, of course, I don't ... haha). Well, I'll be smiling Saturday night after my ride is finished, no matter what.

Wednesday the 13th

Just another lucky day, I guess . Had a very good workout ride today and broke the 49 minute barrier (again). Actually hit 48:05, which is about 17.7 mph for the 14.25 mile ride. Clearly, it won't be long before 48 falls! Haha ... well, not a big deal, but it still feels good.

In other biking news, I'm tentatively planning on riding the trail to Waterloo this Saturday (June 16). That's 52 miles one way and, at the end of the day it would be a total of about 105 miles. To do that I'll probably hook up the panniers and bring along some carbs (and bananas) to eat. Should be able to average 12-13 mph with the stops I'll make and it will be quite a long day. However, my base plan is to ride at least 25 miles up and then return for a minimum of 50 miles. I'll simply go further than that depending on how good I feel riding. Dehydration will be a concern as it's looking like the temperature will be around 90 with some humidity. As much as anything, I suppose, I might not go all the way up there because it does get boring riding alone ... but we'll just have to see how it goes. And if I do that ride I wonder if I'll want to play golf Sunday morning as some other folks (i.e., Larry) have planned? H-mmm, well, that would be a pretty good endurance test itself ... walking the hills of Ellis golf course. It's enough to make a young man smile ...

P.S. Salsa lessons were fun tonight. Had a few nice dances too but would like to get some singing in ... just feel tired. Anyway, I decided to get some tasty sugar cookies, fruit trail mix and bread for sandwiches as part of my fuel for Saturday's ride ... already tried out the bread (Baker's Inn Honey Whole Wheat from HyVee) with a turkey sandwich and it's *very* tasty. I also will make pb&j sandwiches for the ride. Yum!

Good Afternoon of Golf

Well, it was pretty good. I had 3 birdies today but still shot only an 86 ... that tells you (par is 72) that I had some very bad holes. 2 triple bogies and a couple of 3 putts out of a total of only 31 (which isn't too bad). Only one bad drive ... so it was everything in to the green that cost me (plus the two 3 putt greens, I guess). Anyway, the weather was great ... and it was a well spent afternoon with Larry and Scott (another guy from work). We also played a couple of holes with 11 year old Matt ... he was pretty darn good, too! Just hordes of little kids at the golf course though and many folks playing that don't know the rules of the game and keeping up pace of play (which has almost nothing to do with how well you actually shoot).

And I decided to take a day off from biking this afternoon. Had enough today and I feel like relaxing and doing a bit more reading than I usually do. Maybe I'll add more to this later ... gotta go get a bite to eat now ... sure to make me smile!

Later ...
Yes, I'm back . Not much at all happened this evening. I think my energy level is down if I don't get a good, hard bicycle ride in or something. Anyway, I was reading along and started getting really drowsy so I probably had about an hour nap. Then I roused myself and got out of the house. Had a drink at Prime Time and played some video games. I hadn't been there for a long time and it was really pretty nice ... and very little smoke. Then I stopped over at Sammy's and sang one song. Might've sung more but Brian won't adjust the gain on the microphone's and it's just too low. That makes it hard on the vocal chords but he won't change it no matter how much I've requested it. So I check in there every 3 months or so to see if he's decided to accommodate his customers (i.e. singers) but some things never seem to change. And I know he can do it because Alyssa does the show on Thursday nights, for example, and she sets it just about right (even adds a little reverb if I ask her to). So what's with people any more? I think it's more than just philosophical differences (which can, legitimately, be significant) ... I think it's just a lack of general, common, courtesy and consideration for others. Think about it ... people *still* leave their phones turned on (and talk and put their feet up on the back of the seat of people in front of them) in theaters, they ride side by side on narrow trails and have no concept of the trail "rules" (derived from common sense and courtesy) about making room for bikers to pass from both directions, they interrupt meetings with phone calls, they don't take the time to understand and follow the (common courtesy) rules of golf that make it both fun and efficient for everyone on the course, people still go through the express lanes (limit 10 items) with 15-30 items. Maybe it's more than lack of courtesy ... I simply don't know. But it's everywhere ... good night ... and remember that this general lack of courtesy makes it even nicer and more meaningful (and worthy of a smile and a thank you) when we observe the acts of kindness and grace that still do occur.

New Sound System

Well, it finally happened! Yes, Mike at Greywolf Karaoke finally brought along his new amp and it works really well. I told him I could hear the difference right away. It's especially good for those songs where a key change is required. The old amp really sucked for that operation. So it was a breath of fresh air last night down at City Beat, hearing the new system work so well. Anyway, it was a beautiful evening and I took the motorcycle down there. On the way back I stopped in at Biaggi's for a Summer Sizzler (raspberry vodka and lemonade) and then hit Casey's on the way home to put gas in the motorcycle. Overall, an enjoyable and quiet evening.

By the way, I almost had yet another car run into me on the bicycle the other day. I was turning left and the car was sitting at the stop sign on my left (i.e., the street I was turning on to, so I was turning in front of him). As I entered the intersection (and he'd already stopped just before I got there) he started to pull out right into my path. Fortunately, I was able to maneuver around to the right and he finally decided to actually yield at the stop sign and he hit his brakes ... again. I think I could've avoided him even if he had kept going, but I'm not 100% sure of that since I was doing about 15 mph as I went through that intersection. But at least one of us was paying attention, so it worked out. But if you're thinking it might be safer on the trail, stay tuned. One of these days I'll write up some thoughts about people riding on the nature trail ... and you'll see why I don't like to go there very often ... it can really be worse than riding on the roads.

Spent some time last night reading about the Kennedy assassination again and reviewing the pictures there. What an interesting book, as I've perhaps said before (the title is "Reclaiming History-The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy" by Vincent Bugliosi). I will be at it for awhile, though, as it's about 1600 pages.

In other book news, I have a couple of bicycle repair manuals coming so I'll be better able to understand and fix stuff on the bike. The real drawback to that isn't really understanding it, but that there are so many unique tools needed to do almost any of the work ... and some of them are quite expensive. So I try to strike a balance and understanding about what I can work on myself (along with the tools I feel OK about purchasing) and what makes much more sense to take in to the shop to have done. Again, I've been very happy with the support I've received from Northtowne Cyclery.

Nothing new on the used bicycle front ... still thinking maybe Joyce wants it but haven't heard back from Adam since he and his wife were noshows to check it out last Thursday evening. Maybe they'll want to try again this week. Of course, I haven't heard anything on this from Joyce either. Well, if I don't get it out of the garage soon, I'll probably do some work on it (repacking bearings, etc.) and keep it as a backup. In that case, I'll probably get rid of my older (30 years) bicycle which I should've done long ago. I'm confident that it still works but I'm sure it needs a good lube job.

Well, today is golf day again so let's hope for just a bit of glory (something simple ... say, no 3 or 4 putt greens, hehe!) and some fun this afternoon. I may also play this Sunday (Father's Day) ... but that depends on whether or not I get motivated to ride to Waterloo on Saturday (if I do the ride, I don't think I want to play golf Sunday morning). But it's good to be my age and to still feel so physically good (for example, I'm sure I *could* do the century ride on Saturday and still play golf on Sunday morning ... but I'm not sure that I *want* to do that as I also like my relaxation time and it is good to allow for recovery from such physically stressful exercise), and I'm thankful for that every day ... yes, it's definitely worth smiling about.

Saturday Night ...

Had a fun time last night (Saturday). I was torn between going up to the Center for the Arts in Waterloo (they had a dance) and doing something locally. Finally decided to stay close to home (as I'd done quite a bit of driving on Friday night anyway). So first I stopped at Sammy's and had one of their oh-so-excellent hamburger's (and they toast the bun!) for supper. Also played a few video games. Then it was off to the Sip'N'Stir lounge to see Mike and sing a song at the Crowne Karaoke show. It wasn't too busy yet (so the smoke level was low) and I also played a few video games there as I waited for Mike to get his system going. For some reason, he had it fired up just about right and it sound good last night. But then I was off to North Liberty as they were having North Liberty "Fun Days", including the band Black Diamond in the city park. Well, that was "OK" but pretty much a bust as there was no hard surface (all grass) to dance on. Interestingly enough, the folks from Swisher were there doing their same (monotonous after awhile) 1 of 3 or so line dances that they do to every possible tune that comes up. Anyway, despite the $8 charge to listen to the band (pretty much a ripoff, btw), I left there fairly soon after arriving.

Next stop, The Red Lion on Center Point Road (just off 42nd ST, NE). There were quite a few folks there, including a few good dancers (they do have a small dance floor) and Mike (from Mike and Normandy's Grey Wolf karaoke) along with Mike's mom, Madonna. Joe (harmonica Joe) and several other people were there but not too crowded at all and there was not much smoke. Oh, btw, Alyssa was there from Brian Holme's karaoke and it was her birthday (26, I think ... she guessed that I was 23 and I said "yes, and you know how I enjoy older women" ... haha). Actually, June 9 was also my 32nd anniversary date of starting work at Collins. Determined to dance, I did get a dance in with Madonna. Did a couple songs here and then went up to Sammy's with Joe. Man! was that place busy. But it was "fun" busy, not wall to wall ... and Sandy (from karaoke at Gilligan's) was there in an unusual night off. Then it turned out that Alyssa was there (had gone there from Red Lion) and there were several ladies to dance with. Did a few songs, including a duet with Alyssa, and then headed home. Well, I admit that I didn't get to bed until 2am this morning ... I know my schedule will be screwed up but it was just fun. I think I'll probably go up to Faythe's dance at Electric Park this coming Friday.

I may need to take a little nap yet today ... but I do want to be sure to get to bed by about 10 tonight so, of course, I'm leery of getting too much sleep during the day. One thing I've come to realize is that if I don't get enough good, regular sleep for a few weeks, I have a much greater tendency to come down with a cold or something like that. I've been doing well on sleep and exercise since early March of this year and I can't say I've had a single cold since then. Something, I suppose, about sleep renewing your immune system. And, of course, we all remember the old saying "a strong immune system is certainly worth a big smile" ... hehe.

Sub 49:00-Finally

Well, today I finally got under 49 minutes for my regular ride (average about 17.4 mph). This is only the 2nd time this has happened and the first time was some kind of biorhythm super positive fluke (hehe) ... several years ago. Anyway, my time was 48:59 and I'll take it.

Last night was interesting and I did quite a bit of driving ... but after hanging out waiting until after 10pm for a friend to show at a street dance, I ended up going to Waterloo and then singing at Bill's in Evansdale. The street dance thing was kinda fun while I was hanging out there as they had a little carnival and all kinds of treats (but I only had a smallish bag of popcorn ... gotta watch my girlish figure, you know!). After a while though it gets a little claustrophobic for me (and especially with an uncountable number of drunk folks smoking cigarettes and blocking off most real dancing opportunities). I did see a few folks from Waterloo there but not much happening in the way of good dancing. Well, I had fun no matter what!

Today I got my lawn mowed and (see above) my bicycle ride in and then stopped over for lunch at Pei's. Apparently I just missed my friend Bob, though, who consistently eats there on his way to the theater to catch a movie every Saturday afternoon. And, good news here, all my 30" waste slacks and jeans fit just right again (hehe) ... so see, I was right to work on getting that figure slimmed down!

Thinking about taking a motorcycle ride but I'm feeling a little bit lazy ... haven't been able to pick a town to drive to ... but Grundy Center comes to mind as I have a friend there (although I'd probably just go there for a quick cup of coffee). But with this laziness thing coming over me maybe it's better if I do a little more research on bicycle chains ... as I did just pick up a spare Shimano 9-speed (Ultegra) chain. I have to decide if I should soak it in solvent and then put my own lube on it. Apparently (I've read, not talked to anyone), different chains come with different factory lubrication and some are good but some you don't really want to leave on. Also, I've ordered a couple more bicycle maintenance manuals so that I can more easily understand and repair things that happen in everyday riding.

By the way, that guy (Adam) and his wife that were going to stop to check out the old bike on Thursday evening couldn't make it as she got asked to work late at the last minute ... so that's still a future event (and no rush).

I'll tell ya, there's plenty of holes around my house from a ground squirrel that is really busy. I know there are at least 5 and he's moving out further from the house too. I don't know what to do. I guess I could pour concrete down them but that seems like it could be a fairly negative thing for the lawn in the long term. There's probably some kind of poison that would work too ... but I'd really just be happy to discuss it with him and see if he'd consider scaling back construction a bit ;-).

Well, I think I'll relax for awhile and also practice some songs for the upcoming week. Hopefully that will make all of us smile sometime this week.

Storm Warning

Interesting at work this afternoon as we had a storm warning where everyone (as we have been trained) is to go to an interior wall on the lowest level of the building. After about 10 minutes of that I decided it was time to go home so I left and then got home and went for a bike ride. I think it was the southern part of the county that was really in it. There was nothing to be concerned about in our area ... oh, well, it was a change in the day.

Good ride today but *very* windy . Now I need to get ready as the potential bicycle buyers are coming over later and I need to set up in the garage for tweaks to the saddle, etc., to give them the best shot at getting a feel for how it rides. I'm pretty sure it will make them smile ... but I'm not sure that the bike is quite small enough for a person that's 5'7" ... we'll see.

Salsa Wednesday

Today I went to my usual Salsa lesson at The Spy Bar on 10th street in Marion. It was fun, although Darryl brought in a new instructor (named "Ken" of all things!) for the evening and I didn't think he was nearly as good. But it was definitely a different approach and there were quite a few folks there that don't normally attend.

After that, I left to sing ... but decided I didn't really want the smoke tonight so I stopped in at Biaggi's and had "Hot Tamale" Holly make me a Summer Sizzler (Raspberry Vodka w/Lemonade). M-mm-mm good! Found out that Adam (who may buy my old bike tomorrow night) the bartender plays guitar and sings for a rock band that will be playing in the Iowa City ped mall Friday night (10 to midnight). Anyway, they'll be stopping over at my house at about 6:30 tomorrow so we'll see what happens.

... ya know, I really like that summer sizzler ... and I do have Raspberry Vodka and lemonade here at the house ... h-mmm ... I feel a smile coming on (even though it's a school night!) ... just might have to have another one of those. Besides, it's kind of a quiet, and even lonely, Wednesday night ...

Golf & Bicycles, Crackers, Cheese & Wine

Interesting subject, eh? Well, played golf with Larry today and it wasn't the greatest. Not terrible, but pretty mediocre. Occasionally, there were some good, even amazing, shots by both of us ... but overall, not a good scoring day for league.

On the bicycle front, I guess I'll have my old bicycle sold by this Thursday evening if not before. One of the bartenders at Biaggi's Italian restaurant wants to get a second hand bike for his wife ... and I think it'll fit her OK as she's fairly tall at 5'7". There was another person interested in the bikc as well, but haven't heard anything more from her on it, despite additional prompting with a weekend email. Anyway, she talked about it first so it will go to her if she gets in touch to say she wants to check it out. Right now, though, I cleaned and lubed the chain and reset the seat and handlebars down to what I think should work for a 5'7" person ... so it'll be ready for a test ride Thursday evening.

Not much happening today ... no good movies, no romance, no special person in my life ... but I am reading a pretty good book and I have now had a bicycle workout for 40 of the past 41 days that I've owned the new bicycle. That's progress ... I guess (haha) ... and I did actually get my time on the normal circuit that I do down to 49:10. So I think I'll break the 49 minute barrier sometime soon (depending mainly on the wind conditions) ... and I think I'm also more "warmed up" when I ride after walking 18 holes of golf (or maybe I'm just wanting to do something I can consistently do better than golf! ... hehe), so that could've been the key today.

Well, I finally remembered to run out and get some fresh strawberries tonight (from Target). Problem is that all the 1 lb. boxes were really *not* ripe. But there was a 2 lb. box that was, so I got that one (and also a few bananas) and got them all washed and cut up and in the fridge. But tonight is going to be Wine & Cheese (melted on saltines) night ... just because ... with maybe an apple thrown in there. I've actually been pretty good about fruit this past month at least ... as I've been working out much more regularly with the bike. I'm getting my 4 fruit servings and 5 vegetable servings (or vice-versa, haha) every day ... now that's pretty good as I've never been particularly careful about making sure of that in the past. I guess we all can change, eh?

Believe in people and be patient ... both smiles and love will arrive in abundance one of these summer days. Have a good evening, all.

Sunday Golf ... A Good Drive!

Had fun golfing with Larry today. It was a 2 person best shot from the red (women's) tees and playing from there really changes the golf course quite a bit. Anyway, I couldn't hit a drive to save my a** for the first 6 driving holes but Larry was hitting good there. We had a darn good round though and that's because we made some putts and my wedge was hot (including, I hope) a closest to the pin on a 120 yard par 3). Then on #9 I hit a real good drive and then I changed from jeans to shorts for the back nine. It was a good thing to do. I even drove the 246 yd. 15th green (we 2-putted for birdie). Anyway, we actually bogied the 1st and 18th holes but had 10 birdies for an 8 under 64. Who knows ... maybe we'll win something (including, I hope, that closest to the pin on #8 ... and, yes, we made that putt for birdie).

Well, after that it was lunch at Hy-Vee and then I got in a bicycle ride and weight workout. Now for a shower and then I might go out and look into getting a new driver (couldn't hurt, eh?) ... there's nothing (well, almost nothing ... hehe) better than a good drive. Sure puts a smile on my face!

Another Fine Day in Iowa

Good weather here today ... although it was cloudy this morning and it may rain this afternoon. Broke 50 minutes again on the bicycle run despite a 10+ mph breeze. That's a good feeling. Maybe I'm finally starting to get in shape (you think?!). They say it takes longer to do that the older you get ... and, it would seem, I do appear to be getting older each and every day .

Pretty efficient as I got the lawn mowed, killed some box elder bugs that were homesteading in a driveway seam (soapy water wipes 'em out) and then went out for some Chinese at Pei's restaurant around 1:15.

I just received a new book I ordered from Barnes & Noble called "Reclaiming History-The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy". It was written by Vincent Bugliosi, who was the successful prosecutor of the Charles Manson group regarding the Sharon Tate murders (documented in his earlier book called Helter Skelter). This book is big ... weighs about 5 pounds and has 1600 pages, including the index. It also comes with a CD that contains "Endnotes and Source Notes" referenced in the book. That's a nice thing as the CD is easily searchable. Anyway, the bottom line of this book (which I've only just started) is that the assassination of Kennedy was done by one man, Lee Harvey Oswald, and there was not, is not and probably never will be any evidence of any conspiracy. This book is something that really needed to be written and has been a work in progress for about 20 years. Hopefully it will put an end to all the crazy conspiracy folks/groups out there (but probably not). It's very interesting stuff.

Last night I went dancing and, I must confess, also went out to sing on the way home from Waterloo (probably temporary insanity induced by the 4 diet Pepsi's I drank at the dance ... he-he). It was a great evening with many lovely gals to talk and to dance with. Can't remember when I've smiled as much in recent memory as last night. Possibly the only thing better would be driving a tractor ...

Tonight I think I'll sing a few songs ... maybe at Eddy's show down at Magoo's but I'm pretty tired ... so will have to see if I can get a nap in or something. Not used to getting home at 1am .

June Is Bustin' Out ...

Well, today is exactly 5 weeks since I got the new bike. That's 36 days of possible riding and I've ridden it 35 of those 36. Now up to over 800 miles this spring. And it feels good. Gotta decide if I want to get something to let me ride it in the basement for workouts this winter. Nordic track is still a very good workout but I have to confess that it is somewhat boring ... still, I suppose it's good to have different workouts on different days (or seasons).

Golf tournament on Sunday with Larry ... maybe we'll win a few bucks again (thank goodness for flighted tournaments, eh?!).

Tonight is a singles dance at Electric Park in Waterloo and I'll be there ... and depending on when I leave, I may stop to sing a few tunes on the way home. Let a smile be your umbrella ...