Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Snots

The Little Lady has had a pretty nasty cold the past few days but it sure hasn't dampened her mood to terribly bad. Her nose is Rudulph red but her smile is as endearing as ever. She really hams it up when the camera comes out.

Looks like another drive day. At least the weather losers couldn't screw this one up.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Three Dog Night

I saw No Country For Old Men tonight with Poo. Good movie. If anyone wants to explain it to me that would be cool too. One of those movies you have to see a second time I’m thinking. Does the answer lie in within TLJ’s dream? In the end who has the money? Dammit! I need help with this one.

The hype on Cloverfield is hooking me. I think I want to see it.

I built my PowerTap wheel for the mountain sled. I can see the future. It has more mtb rides in it.

18 days of work so far in ‘08. 16 of them started off with ride to and a ride from. 88.9%. Tuesday should have been but wasn’t due to the weather losers missing their forecast of an inch or two by……an inch or two. I drove in expecting the forecasted white shat. Never came. Losers.

Hockey is real good this season. The Flyers are competitive again. El Diablos seem to be the only team that’s giving them fits. They punked the Sid-less Pens tonight. I missed it. Wish I didn’t. I love watching them play Pitt, and win.

The Giants will ruin the perfect season. Eli’s Coming.

McHammy is a McManwhore.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The Invisible Rant

From time to time people ask my “why is it called antibike”. If you had the chance to ride along side me today as I rode to work you’d find the answer not once but twice. I’m typically fairly sympathetic towards most motorists as they merrily slave along in their day’s travels. It’s inevitable that someone will do something dumb to put me or them in harms way but most often it’s bad judgment, not a flagrant twitch of douchebaggery. Someone will see me and overreact by driving clear into the opposite lane of traffic or something along those lines.

What makes my head boil is when a driver clearly sees me yet still accelerates to pass me and then immediately makes a right turn in front of me, cutting me off in the process, as was the case this morning. That act is my number one asshole driver maneuver. There is NO WAY I can’t be visible to a person that pulls off that stunt. It is a total lack of respect for my safety, my life. A 3000lb car vs some chump on a 15lb bike. Nice odds. I chased that loser this morning, but get this, he obviously new he chopped me because he accelerated and drove off at a high rate in a very twisty residential neighborhood. Way-to-go tough guy. Congrats.

Not even a mile later some tard woman pulls off a perfect “I’m an asshole Camp Hill driver who parks on the wrong side of the road maneuver”. She does this right in front of me. She drives into my lane causing me to swerve and pass her on the opposite side of the road. Think about that for a moment. For an insant, this stupid driver is in my lane coming directly at me in her 3000lb car. I didn’t know her intentions until I was already by her. All I knew for sure was had I stayed put, I was meat. Had I swerved further to the right, I was meat.

After those two close-calls, I very seriously considered whether or not I somehow crossed over into some kind of parallel tard-driver dimension. A universe where me, your humble narrator, was invisible. I’m not joking. I’m not laughing right now. It wasn’t until I walked into Bob’s Bagel Shack and was greeted by friendly faces with my usual Everything Bagel that I knew I was visible.

So, there you have it. Antibike. My daily experiences as an afterthought on two wheels. The commuting equivalent to a pile of dog shat. The sentiment of, “yep, I see you, now get the hell outta my way or I’ll just run your ass over regardless”. None of which will make me stop either.

Little McHammy, VisitPA Ray, and myself commute regularly, if not religiously. Both McHammy and VisitPA Ray have longer commutes than I do so I’ll never out-commute them in terms of miles but there is one way I can. My goal is to out-percentage them. I know it’s still heavily skewed my way because even if it’s raining I only get rained on for 20 minutes or I only have to be frozen for 20 minutes but I’ll try to track my success rate and keep it posted here. YTD – 100%. Thursday looks tricky though. Chance of precip later in the day.

It was cool to finally visit The Coliseum Saturday night. Auntie Em took fine care of our table. Benny and Joshy were highly amusing in their own special way. I haven't been out that late in a loooong time. I'm not sure I'd go back there. It's just too much of a zoo. The food was good, but I can get better. The bowling was fun, but I can go better. Fun night though.

Speaking of McHammy, I wonder how he enjoyed his coffee beverage tonight?

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Golden Arches and the like

Hard to argue with 67 degrees on the 8th of January. Although there is clearly an “r” in January I wasn’t going to deny my stubby little legs some fresh air. Getting a nice ride in anytime is therapy but especially when you can get in a ride when the weather could just as easily be 20 degrees and frozen roads. Good times.

Speaking of good times. Last Saturday we took TLW over to The PA State Farm Show. She absolutely loved it. All the farm animals and different sites and sounds were all she could handle. She has her cow/mooing down to a science and she was working a pretty good chicken cluck too. By far her most favorite part of the trip was the merry-go-round. The Wifey and Haley got on and she grinned from ear to ear for the duration. In fact she just about had a meltdown when we walked away from it. Good thing your typical one year old is easily distracted.

Sunday I rode down to meet The Wifey and TLW at The Berm to watch little DJ’s 4th grade basketball game. Pretty fun to watch. Aunt Shannon and Uncle Greg got to hang out with TLW as well. On the way home I took the opportunity to stop at Wendy’s and procure myself my first fast food meal in well over a year. Yum.

Say what you want about fast food. Some people live on it and do fine. Some get fat as hell. You healthy options at fast food seem to be much better now as well. Personally, I just avoid it all together. In my case, I love to eat. I also love to be thin. I know if I allowed myself regular fast food I’d have to work harder at being thin. Not worth it. The stuff tastes great. I wonder if it’s ever been proven in some way that fast food uses some kind of addictive sinister non-caloric additive that keeps it’s customers coming back? I haven’t heard much recently about the Big Tobacco scenario happening in the realm of fast food.

At any rate, the last time I could think of a full fledged all-in visit to a fast food was after the Charm City ‘cross race in September of ’06. Also a Wendy’s. So, the latest antibike poll will deal with your favorite fast food. Who do you love? And how often do you love it?

I wonder if I could somehow slip this one by The Wifey?

Thursday, January 03, 2008

McHammy

I blew out a rear tire no more than a half mile from leaving work tonight. Calling The Wifey was not even a consideration because of putting TLW to bed at that very time. My only option, McHammy. Thanks a bunch Kyle for turning around and driving my broken down ass home. In your honor.