ouch

For one reason or another I’ve just put in 3 straight ten hour days at work. I’m pooped. Yesterday I delivered a gym to a detention center over in Harrisburg. Hburg is not that sketchy of a place with the exception of a neighborhood here and there. I was borderline sketchy yesterday. All was good, however. This place was a half-way house for cons. It was explained to me that most of them are mandatory drug sentence convicts but they do get their share of more violent cases.

As soon as I walked in one of the old-timers pulled me aside to make sure I was very aware of where I was and the potentially explosive situation I was in. I think he was more keen on impressing me with how “brave” he was to work in such a dangerous environment for over 20 years. Truth of the matter is every “resident” I came in contact with, as they are not locked down, was polite and respectful and mannerly. Maybe it was because I was installing a new toy for them, I don’t know. I did manage to smash the shit out of my right middle finger like a dumb ass.

I picked up Erin’s anniversary gift. Now I just have to figure out when and how to unveil it. As usual, I’m pretty sure she has no idea what I’ve gotten her.

The Phillies suck.

I’m planning on riding up to Erin’s grandparents on Monday for their Memorial Day picnic. They live in Thompsontown which is roughly 40 miles by car up 322 towards Happy Valley. Of course I won’t be taking the highway so I’m thinking I might be looking at more like 55-60 miles or so. A few hills to mix it up. It should be a real nice ride. Especially when I’m done and more tastey picnic morsels await me. Temps in the mid-80’s should make it a little interesting considering it really hasn’t been that warm in a long while.

Otherwise, I’m looking at a lot of R&R this weekend. A little work around the house. A few rides. I’m sure we’ll be doing our own grillin’. Fun.

I caught this brief little news story on cyclingnews a couple days ago and found it funny. I'm sure most have seen it but I know some who read this are not cyclingnews.com junkies so I'll just copy and paste it and here it is. Enjoy.

Water-carriers battle in the Giro

Cycling is traditionally divided into stars and water-carriers and while battle rages at the top of the Giro d'Italia rankings between stars such as Ivan Basso, José Gutierrez and Paolo Savoldelli, a literal contest among water-carriers has been going on further back.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport Quick-Step's José Antonio Garrido recently set a new record by carrying 16 water bottles simultaneously from the team car to his team-mates. With one bottle in his mouth, two in the cages on the bike, two in his pockets, six under the front of his jersey, and five under the back, Garrido lugged over five litres of water to his team-mates.
In yesterday's stage, Fabio Sacchi (Milram) beat Garrido's record by carrying 18 water bottles simultaneously, but Garrido thinks he can beat the Italian. "I've already done a test, and think I can manage 20 bottles," he said.

There's more than just bragging rights at stake too. At the end of the Giro on Sunday, Italian cycling legend Francesco Moser will present a prize to the man who manages to carry the most bottles: a bottle of wine for each of the bottles carried. "It will be a kind of miracle: water will be turned into wine!" said Moser.