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!