Happy Day

As I flip through the channels one last time before I trudge of to bed what do I find? One of my most favorite movies of all time and I'm pretty sure the only musical I have room for in my small little mind. The King and I. Damn, I love this movie. I wish it weren't almost midnight. If anyone is in the gift buying mood this would be one to consider. Hint, Wifey.

Yul Brynner is funny as hell in this movie. He was a busy dude the year this movie was made. 1956. He also was Rameses in The Ten Commandments. A classic. And also he did Anastasia. Not the friggin cartoon. I know there are only so many combinations a man can come up with when it comes to what color your tux/shirt/vest/tie will be on the big wedding day. I saw Anastasia before I got married and saw YB wearing a black tux with a white shirt, white vest, and a white bow tie. Dude looked sharp. That's how I did it. Certainly nowhere near as well. Good movies. All of 'em. While you're at it don't forget to watch The Magnificent Seven one more time. Of the Seven, only two are still alive. One you may have never heard of - Robert Vaughn. The other you may not recognize by his name - Eli Wallach, but rather by the name of one of his most famous movie characters - Tuco (he was The Ugly in The Good, The Bad, The Ugly).

John Wayne. Steve McQueen. Yul Brynner. What is their common bond? You can rattle off a ridiculous number of phenomenal movies these dudes put out. All three died of lung cancer. Knuckleheads. I guess when these dudes were prominent the information available to us now about how lethal smoking is just wasn't there. It befuddles me that anyone at all would smoke these days but who knows, maybe in a couple more years the gov'ment will save us from ourselves and ban smoking. Period. Short rant. I totally disagree with smoking. Don't get it. I hate going to smokey bars/restaraunts. However, I also feel that personal responsibility trumps big gov'ment coming to the rescue. If you want to smoke, smoke. I won't join you. But plenty of people will. If you own a bar/restaraunt and want to allow smoking, do it. I won't spend my time there. But plenty of people will. Only the tip of the iceberg on personal responsibility.

More good news. I lamented weeks ago about the demise of playoff hockey as we once knew it. Sudden death overtime. Play goes on until someone scores. Could be two minutes, could be two hours. Serious edge of your seat stuff. Turns out I may have had bad info on the topic. I'm still trying to find the facts but I heard over the weekend in the middle of the night while an earphone was jammed in my ear a hockey guy say sudden death overtime is still the way it will go. Rejoice. I know you will.

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!

Prophet

I can see the future. I can also see the past.

As for the present. I got some more good miles in this weekend. I tried to ride north before work yesterday to try and meet KHam on his way in but couldn't find him. I ended up not knowing how long it would take me to get from where I was to the shop so I had to TT for about 25 minutes until I felt safe. Pretty good ride.

Today, another 40miler. Ho-hum. I did hit a new wattage high today. 1102. At mile 37. Just a short little pitch that I normally muscle over anyway but I thought I'd give it a go. Yo, Hebe? Think we can work on training to put out 1100watts for 45 minutes? Didn't think so. All in good fun.

My prediction for the future is tied to the fact that I'm sending my LeMond Tete back to have it refinished, no charge. The finish on Trek/LeMond/Fisher/Klein bikes is warranteed for one year. My sled is almost exactly that old so I just made it. I sweat like a weirdo. And even though I do my best to clean up my frame after particularly sweaty rides the carbon around the brake cable stops is corroding pretty bad. I'll send it back, get it refinished, and then sell it when I get it back. I'll ride my old MJ until June 1st at which time I will order a new rig. I LOVE my Tete but the Nove should ride pretty close to the same. Why June 1st? EP changes from 15% to 25% on that day. That works.

Enough about bikes. Yesterday Erin and Emily rearranged our living room. Looks good. Before, I thought we needed something else in there but now it looks great. Maybe something to hang on the wall but nothing major. Now we can line up plant life along the big front windows. Cool. I rewarded their efforts by grilling some turkey burgers with some bellas and bacon and swiss. Yum.

The Sopranos was much better tonight. I wasn't so impressed with the first few weeks. I waited 2yrs for this???? Tonight, however, some real meaty story lines are kicking in.

Erin made a real tastey dinner tonight. Chicken breast chopped up in a salad with fries thrown in. Fantastic. Couldn't have done it better myself. The beauty of riding my ass off again is the amount of food I get/need to eat. As the title of my last entry states: I heart food.

GOODNIGHTNOW!

I heart food

What an awesome day outside. I managed to put in another good ride. 2:30hrs of fun. The weather definitely helps the motivation. I did a threshold test so that I can start basing my training on actual numbers instead of JRA. More on that in the next few days. I need to give my data to The Legend so he can decipher it and give me some direction. I ordered Training and Racing With a Power Meter today. I’m sure that will clear up what all these numbers mean.

The Wifey will be home tonight after being gone since Sunday. No phone calls please.

I need to clean a bit around the house so she doesn’t freak out. Really the place isn’t too bad all things considered. Some crumbs to vacuum and some dishes to load in the dishwasher but not much else.

I need to do a better job of feeding myself on longer rides. I’ve done 3 rides in the past week of 2:30hrs in length with nothing more than a 100 calorie Clif Shot. I’m getting done with these rides absolutely famished. I want to start stretching these rides out a little closer to 3hrs when we get into the season more. Bars, gels, drinks, I need to figure out the best way for me to take on calories as I ride. Bars taste great but are tough to get down without a boat load of water. I’ve tried Accelerade/Endurox without success. They taste great but I just can’t digest the drinks during rides. Afterwards no problems. I’m thinking gels might be my best option but at 100 calories a pop I’d need to carry 4 or 5. Any thoughts?

On that note. After my ride today I immediately went to the store to load up on grub. People always say don’t go grocery shopping when you’re hungry. My ass. That’s the best time to go.

Soon time to bust out the hammock. I love that thing. I missed it dearly over the winter. Erin wouldn’t let me set it up down in the basement. It totally would have worked down there in front of the ol double nickel. No luck. Many times last summer I’d get out for a ride before work and leave enough time to lounge on the hammock. I’d then call everyone I knew who was sitting in their office cubicle and tell them how nice it was outside. Soon.

No mas.

Slap Boxing the One-Eyed Champ

Got out for another good ride today. Mother Nature played a cruel trick on me but it was still a nice ride. 20 miles into the wind so the theory goes I’d have 20 miles of clear sailing home. Right? My ass. Try 20 miles of bend-over-and-grab-your-ankles blustery headwinds. Somewhere around Braggtown the sun went away the clouds moved in and the winds shifted. What can you do? Grin and bear it.

I finished up being more hungry than I can remember in quite some time. I made a pizza and ate it. I had visions of Louie’s but Cape May was last week.

The Wifey has just shipped off on a Teacher testing type business trip until Thursday eve. She hates those trips. I won’t know what to do with myself until then. At least I can fall asleep with the radio on for a few nights. I suppose I have to try and figure out the washing machine. Either that or smell like hell all week. Looks like I’m watching The Sopranos alone tonight. Hopefully she can watch at her hotel in Philly.

Our last week of closing at 7pm at Holmes. Starting in April we go to 8pm. Sucks, but at least we get an hour back in the evenings starting next Sunday. Might make the transition a little more bearable.

Speaking of next Monday. Baseball is back. Go Sillies!

Miles on my 1996 Ford Ranger STX pick-up redneck truck since January 23rd - 158. Miles on my Lemond Tete in the last 10 days - 190. Sweetness.

gobuldiguk

I got out for a real nice ride today. Totally JRA. So far I love my new toy. Understanding it will definitely take some time. Here is just a small sample of all the feedback I gathered from today’s ride.
· Duration - 2:22:37hrs
· Work – 1576kJ (calories)
· TSS – 10.9 (don’t know what this means)
· Norm Power – 215 (don’t know what this means)
· Distance – 42.118 miles
· Power – max-948 watts, avg power-184 watts
· Heart Rate – max-181, avg HR-157
· Cadence – min-30rpm, max-141(!), avg-88
· Torque – max-457, avg-78 lb-in (don’t know what this means)
This is just a small amount of the info I have available for dissecting. There is also peak power in 5, 10, 20, and 30 seconds and 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes. Graphs, charts, a diary to keep notes. For a stats/numbers geek like myself this is beautiful. Now if I can just figure it out a little more. I’ll have to have a pow-wow with my good buddy Coach Hebe.

XM Radio is awesome. Channel 44. Fred. I just heard a Hoodoo Gurus song I haven’t heard in probably 10 years. The Cult, X, Talking Heads, Talk Talk, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Call, Janes, old REM (before they turned fag). There is no end.

After watching the Flyers dismantle the Rangers last night I briefly turned the remote over to The Wifey. She immediately went for AI. Just as that chicken little tool got the ‘ol heave ho. I almost shot iced tea out my nose when the word karaoke was used to descibe one of the singer losers. That, fleeting as it was, was major entertainment!

When we were down in Cape May last weekend we both were jonesin for some ice cream. We hit the local Wawa and found a stash of Ben & Jerry’s. I haven’t had any of that stuff since I recovered from my bout of fat-assed-ness. I discovered that have some low fat frozen yogurt goodies now. I picked up a pint of Half Baked. It had some cookie dough and some brownie chunks in it but it was super good and ridiculously low in fat for ice cream. I may have a new addiction. That stuff ain’t cheap either.

Has anyone noticed it’s officially spring? Couldn’t tell by sticking your nose outside. This is our payback for a warm January. Sonzabitches! Until we meet again.

Twelve

The Wifey and I made it back from South Jersey unscathed. I hadn’t been down there since xmas ’04 so it was cool to hang out for a couple days. We ate some good food and did a bunch of relaxing. For all the times I walked by The Mad Batter and wondered how their food might be we finally stopped in for breakfast Saturday. Good stuff. We also visited Cabana’s, The Ugly Mug, Uncle Bill’s(shitty), Morrow’s Nut House(chocolate!!!), and twice we had pizza from Louie’s. I love their pizza. One slice is approx one quarter of a large pie. Yum.

Erin did some shopping all around town. I got 5hrs of riding in. riding down there is just short of brutal in more than one way. Flat. Dead freakin flat. Also windy. All the time. Especially the past couple days. Today I left Cape May at 9:15am on my bike and Erin left at 10am in her car so that I could get a little ride in. I check out the Weather Channel for a quick update on conditions. 35. 20-30mph winds out of the west northwest. Beauty. My general direction was north northwest. So, for 90 minutes I rode into a pretty stiff and unforgiving headwind. It was fun. She caught me 27 miles up the road. I was using my new Powertap SL system. Pretty interesting stuff. I know I was working WAY too hard for this time of year. Partly due to headwinds and partly due to my own curiosity about what this power measurement is all about. Now I will tone it down and start some base mileage. Still curious about how a dead flat ride will compare to a hilly ride. I’m figuring about the same but this is all new to me so it will take a little time to get it figured out. Coach Hebe has recommended CyclingPeaks software for the best in power measurement diagnostic type stuff. I also bounced the question off Matt while up at the Serotta thing. He has used a Powertap the previous 3 years and also said there is no better way to go than CyclingPeaks. He’s bound by sponsor commitment to use an SRM this year which is probably a pretty sweet tool in its own right. A small fortune but hell, if someone wants to throw one my way.

Last but certainly not least. Two of my most favorite people in all the land also happen to be married to each other. And today happens to mark the 12th year they’ve been married. I owe a lot to Mike and Amy. Without them there would most likely not be a Mrs Erin Kessel. They took me under their wing when I was a no-date-getting putz. They saved me from far too many weekends on my own. They are the only two people I know on earth that would ever place a single hunk of cheese between two slices of bread and without heating it up call it edible. Mike has bought way too many first rounds when there was not a second round. Amy has provided far too much entertainment with the feet and Dicky Martin and bingo and most importantly, as mentioned earlier, gave her blessing when I started dating and eventually married her cousin. Two great people and wouldn’t you know it, one phone number will reach ‘em both. Happy Anniversary Mike & Amy. Hey, you two are almost a teenager. Anyway, here’s to 12 more.

Gotta go, Napoleon Dynamite is on HBO. Riot. Sopranos tonight. F yeah!

Drivel

The Wifey and I finally caught the first episode of The Sopranos tonight. Worth the wait. Not an episode loaded with action, until Uncle June shot T in the gut, but some good story lines should make this the best season yet.

Damn! Did we ever get busy at Holmes. It didn’t help that VisitPARay and I were away for 4 straight days during the warmest days of the year so far. Young KHam is going to start full time next week. Should be good to have him around. He’s good with customers and knows his stuff with bikes. Plus he has a friendly little rivalry with VisitPARay on the MTN bike. They’re both fast skinny little suckers so the smack has been flying from all angles ever since Kyle started part-time. Hebe comes in and throws matches at the gas can when he can.

Erin and I are cruising down to Cape May tomorrow night for a long weekend. She was born and raised in those parts so I know she loves to get down there whenever she can. I’m going to take my Lemond so I can get out for a few rides. Riding down there sucks pretty bad but I’ll have two and a half days to get a few hours in and build up an appetite for some good grub. Louie’s Pizza. The Cape Orient(sushi!). I wonder if The Lemon Tree is open. Good breakfast goodies there. We’re going to try and find a nice fancy joint to eat one night but it’s all subject to what’s actually open this time of year. Hit or miss, I suppose.

In other news. Another karioke loser got booted off AI. Yawn. Snore. I know many love this dreck but after they weed out the nut jobs in the first few weeks I find the entertainment value totally lost. Other than the occasional eye candy I see zero reason to follow this crap. Mind-numbing. I would fork my eyeballs out if I didn’t have a pickle on the end of it. Now that I’ve offended everyone who reads this I offer this disclaimer. I watch hockey. I love hockey. I know, I know, me and about six other people. All I’m saying is; I don’t get it. Just like you don’t get hockey. So, make fun of me.

My Powertap SL showed up. Ahem. Minus spokes and a rim. Your dumbass narrator ordered the wrong freakin part number. Now I need to source a rim and some spokes and build it myself. Not that big of a deal. Just a PITA that’s all.

Speaking of baseball. We’re under three weeks to go until the Phillies kick off their season. Sometimes I don’t know why I bother. Name the last Philly sports team to win it all. Yes, it’s been a while. I still need to make it down there to see a game at the now two year old stadium. I hear it’s nice but it’s a shame you gotta drive to South Philly to get there. Serious dump. It’s always easier to catch ‘em play at Camden Yards. You can make a day of it down in Baltimore. Mmmmm, crab cakes.

More outdoor entertainment news. April 21st. Did you right that down? Haars Drive-in opens for bidness. Love it.

GOODNIGHTNOW!

Back from Saratoga Springs. I had hoped to throw an update or two your way while I was up there but truth be told it was tough. The days started early(8am) and ended roughly 12 hours later. By the time I got a chance to power up the lapper all I wanted to do was check my email and find some food and pass out. Let me start from the beginning.

Thursday I picked up VisitPARay around 12:30pm and we hit the open road for the trip north. I’m a big OCC fan. I don’t care for motorcycles or anything like that. I just love watching the show. I knew they were in New York not far beyond the PA border so we checked our road map and found the town we needed (Montgomery) and took a slight detour to look for the OCC guys. We actually found the factory fairly quick but I thought they had built a new factory so I dismissed the one I was parked right in front of to search out a newer one. Didn’t find it. We did find their retail store but nothing else. I know the factory I was at is not where they film some of the more recent shows so it must be some top-secret place. It was cool to see it none-the-less. We stopped in New Paltz for some good Mexican food. Made it to Saratoga Springs by 6:30pm. We checked in and immediately had to find the conference room for a couple beers and a meet and greet sorta thing with our instructors for the weekend.

Shut up and do some work!

Day One. Outta bed at 6:15am to quickly grab some grub and do a tour of the Serotta factory. It was not what I expected but not in a bad way. I thought it would be larger than it was, but the place was very clean and well organized. A tight ship. After the tour it was time for classroom instruction. Translation: time to sit on my ass for 30+ hours in the next three days. Surprisingly I did ok. The information was very well presented and easy to stay focused on. Paul Levine ran the show. His big toe is Grant. Dr. Pam Wilson was on hand to dumb down some serious physiology for us idiots. The day went quick. Ray and I searched out a recommended Mexican joint. I ordered a couple steak tacos. Our waitress was puzzled by my order. We have ground beef, she said. Don’t get me started on mex food, just ask The Wifey. I ordered the pollo instead. Crap.

Day Two. One of the things I loved about how the class was presented. Paul would discuss the methodology of a bike fit on Day One but start over on Day Two but add more to it. I found it easy to keep up. Which is not to say anyone could. There we 16 people in total attending the class with very different levels of experience and backround. We had numerous shop owners from Hawaii, Seattle, and Mass. Wisconsin, I think too. St Louis was in the house. We had Mike Cavaliere, Canada’s assistant National Cross Country Ski coach. We had Matt White, FiordaFruita pro AND most importantly a fellow ’crosser. All in all a great group of guys. Even Dr Pam is an accomplished stage racer. Anyway, back to the point I was going to make. It seemed that people were picking all the info up but at different levels of comprehension. Ultimately, I think everyone did get it. We had some good hands-on stuff going on which, in my opinion, help immensely.

Matt getting a TT fit. Doesn't that team kit look way better this year?

Ray and I cruised the mean streets of Saratoga looking for a place to watch some ‘Cuse bball. We found a cool sports bar and watched some tele with the locals. Saratoga is in close proximity to Syracuse so it was a very partisan crowd. The ‘Cuse had to win to ensure entry into March Madness. Good game. Down to the wire. It was cool to experience it with the locals and most importantly no riots ensued after the Orange won.

Day Three. We got into aerodynamics and Tri stuff. Some more hands-on stuff. A review. A test. A review of the test. Ben Serotta said some stuff. Paul wrapped it up. Handed out some diplomas. Bang! Out the door we went. Gassed up the Holmes bang bus and we were well on our way by 7pm. It got foggy as a mf’r somewhere after we got off the NY Thruway which meant some white-knuckle driving for a few hours but I dropped Ray off at his place at Midnight. I was in bed with my wonderful wife and snoring by 12:45am. That about does it. Thank me for leaving out all the technical stuff I am now armed with.

I really enjoyed the instruction from Paul and his crew. He is the #1 Serotta dealer in all the land. He’s got a very nice operation. He does fits and sells high-end. Simple but amazingly successful business model. Also a great staff. I was concerned for my own sanity about sitting on my ass for that long over the weekend but as I said earlier, I found the information very well presented and is a true testament to our instructors. Good show.

Now, I sit here as it’s 70 outside trying to figure out what I need to get done. Ride. Yes. Unpack. If I must. The Wifey didn’t leave me a Do list as she loves to do on my days off. I do need to buy a case of Spaten for Uncle Willie(Father of The Mrs Legend). He’s allowing us to stay at the condo in Cape May this weekend. All he asked for was some brew. Nice. So a short week at Holmes and then another long drive.

Late.

I picked up my XM satellite radio system last night. So far, I have to say it’s pretty damn cool. There is so much variety in the music and talk I think it would be impossible not to find something to your liking. I had some gift certificates to use up so my $100 purchase was mostly covered. I would have no problem saying it’s well worth the money especially if you spend a lot of time in your car. I don’t so I bought the home kit also. Easy as pie to set up and a breeze to navigate. I recently heard XM was having some financial issues but you wouldn’t have known that by looking at the display at Best Buy. They were just about cleaned out. The sales monkey said there was nothing hotter in the whole store. My favorite channel so far is called Fred. Plays nothing but old school 80’s alt music. The Cure, PIL, Fishbone, Depeche Mode, The Clash, Simple Minds, Violent Femmes, Elvis Costello, Oingo Boingo. You get the picture. All the sports talk is there. FSR, SNR, ESPN. Even 5 or 6 country channels for The Wifey. Like I said, hard to be disappointed.

I made it out for 90 wind blown minutes of riding today. It warmed up nicely even if the wind was somewhat scattershot. Formal training starts in two weeks. The Legend called to ride today but I was already 20minutes into mine and I didn’t hear my cell ringing in the wind. At this point riding with Hebe would most likely be counterproductive for both of us. He’ll be flying at your local 1/2 race in just a few short weeks while I would have a tough time hanging onto the back of a C ‘cross race. Other than the daily commute which has kept my legs spinning I have zero fitness otherwise. A necessary evil I suppose. I feel good that I haven’t riding this winter near as much as last even though the weather tempted me all of January. I have to keep telling myself I’ll get my miles in, just not yet. It does amaze me reading all the blogs about the guys getting ready to hit the pavement/dirt ready to hammer, making it imperative they be out killing themselves in less than stellar weather. Good luck. I have much respect for you all.

The Wifey made some more choco chip/coconut cookies today. Unfreakinbelievably tastey. Then she outdid herself for dinner with some spinach stuffed pork chops with a side of asparagus. Yummy! BTW, why does my pee smell funny? In between she had the sewing machine out throwing together some pillows for our furniture in the basement. The best wife ever. Period.

BigBoyPulling aka Brother of The Legend aka Thotis aka Eric stopped in for a brief visit on his way home to West Chester. Picked up his Holmes bibs and a cookie. Coupled with his Holmes jersey I understand he is now obligated to do the Lower Allen ‘cross race this fall. No excuses.

I’ve added another link on the right for you to check out. My friend Mark, aka Crink aka Hink is a Linux rocket scientist. I’ve known Mark since I was 8yrs old. Mark now lives in North Carolina running a computer software company and a Linux magazine. Not shabby for an East Berlin boy, eh Mark? Anyway, some of you who read this might find Mark’s site fascinating. I’m a bit overwhelmed by most things computer related but the Linux thing seems pretty cool. Check it out.

I’ve got the drive to Saratoga Springs, NY and a visit to Serotta coming up on Thursday. I’m looking forward to being trained by the best in the biz on the science of proper bike fit but I’m not looking forward to the 30hrs+ of classroom time in just 3 days. That’s a lot of sitting for me and my ADD. Wish me luck. I’ll be taking the lapper to keep up to date and report in from NY.

One week for you. One week + a day for me.

Shrinkage

Who needs pills-all you have to do is ride on a day like today

Wintry mix. Freezing rain mixed with and changing to rain. Highs in the low 30’s. At the beginning of the week today, my day off, was to be much more pleasant than it turned out. I haven’t been riding much on the road sled. Commuting to work everyday but that’s it. I was really looking forward to riding today so I stubbornly refused to let a little freezing drizzle and 31 degrees get in my way. I bundled up and hit the open roads for an hour. That’s all I wanted. There was enough wetness on the road and drizzle falling that I was pretty much drenched 30 minutes in. I didn’t care. I couldn’t feel my legs the last 10 minutes. I didn’t care. All I wanted was to ride my Tete outside on pavement. No indoor trainer bullpucus. I actually feel guilty selling those things at work. Those things suck. I mean I guess if you need to ride and outside is not an option then, yeah, go ahead. But, man do they suck.

So I get done with my ride. I peel off 10lbs of soaked clothing and notice my balls have disappeared. Holy missing marbles Batman! Today I set a new record for shrinkage. Shrinkage is really kinda funny. I only wish The Wonderful Mrs K was here to witness it. I think she gets as much entertainment out of shrinkage as I do. I could always bust out the digicam but that’s probably a little weird taking pics of my shrunken balls. Anyway, a nice warm shower and voila! The boys are back.

On to more important matters. I ordered a Powertap SL rear wheel with all the accompanying accoutrement. I should see that in roughly two more weeks. This will be my first foray into the world of training via power measurement. Seems to be the way to go. Makes sense. Using an HRM is cool but can give you a skewed view of your fitness if that’s all you’re using. This will give me a much more accurate idea of how I’m improving, where to make adjustments to my training, if I’m overtraining/undertaining, just an immense amount of info to aid and assist how to make me a faster ‘crosser. Good article click here.

I’m also working on building the lightest ‘cross sled I possibly can. No rules against giving myself every possible advantage when the green flag drops.

I’m sure you, my loyal readers, are as thrilled and as happy as I am to see hockey back in full swing. It was cool to watch Olympic hockey but it’s great to have the season underway again. If for no other reason than the simple fact that Fantasy Hockey also kicked in again. Love it. On an unfortunate side note. It occurred to me that playoff hockey will never be the same. In years past, it wasn’t uncommon to see an overtime playoff hockey game go two, three, even five overtimes to decide a winner. I guess if you aren’t into hockey the idea of watching a game go 5hrs is akin to Chinese torture. Now, with the new shootout rules this will all be done away with. The shootout is not without it’s own excitement but the contest is decided rather quickly with much less emotional build-up. Knowing a shootout will be over and done with in less than five minutes doesn’t stand up to the thought of knowing sudden death overtime could be two minutes or two hours.

The Wifey is home and desperate for my attention. Later friends.

WTF!
Where did this white shit come from??? I wake up. I pee. I look outside. I was flummoxed. White shit everywhere. Maybe an inch tops, but as cold as it is I may be forced to drive in to work today. Dammit. I think The Mrs Legend is behind this. She’s probably been saving a huge pile of white shit at The Legend compound and decided to sneak over here on her way to work this morning to spread white shit all over my barrio. Sonzabitches.

Real quick. Two great actors have passed on over the weekend. Mr. Furley aka Barney Fife aka Mr. Limpet(Don Knotts) and Ralphie’s dad(Darren McGavin) from A Christmas Story. Don Knotts was great. Funny dude. Funny looking dude. The Andy Griffith Show is one of those old time TV Land shows I will stop and watch when I’m flipping through the channels. Good stuff. And who doesn’t love A Christmas Story(exception-Erin’s mom)? Most people could just about quote the entire movie but Old Man Parker, IMO, was the class of that movie. Ralphie and Randy were good but their Dad was great.


I have a cold. It’s not going away. I have stubbornly eschewed drugs. My nose has been constantly leaking. Slight sore throat. A little ear ache when I’m outside. Nothing major. I finally had enough last night. The Wifey fed me drugs. I have always hated cold drugs because they make you drowsy and dry you up to a point that’s as uncomfortable as the cold itself. But, I slept well and I feel like a million bucks - minus some loose change - this morning.

Less than two weeks until……

Twelve episodes this season and eight beginning next January. Then it’s done. That will suck. So much happened in season 5. Adriana, gone. Cousin Tony, gone. Johnny Sack, the gray bar hotel for him. But what will happen over the next twenty episodes? Subject to debate. Anyone? Thoughts?

#2. late.

love the ride

My commute to work is pretty quick and fun. It’s only 4.5 miles. 15 minutes going in. 16 or 17 coming home. Fairly rolling but more uphillish coming home. The last two tenths is a wall. A good way to finish.

It’s no secret how much I hate the white shit. And so far this winter I(we?) have been pretty fortunate there hasn’t been more of it. Snow and ice can really wreck my ride. Maybe that’s partly why I hate it so much. So, I’ve been keeping a tally of my commuting days so far this year. I’ve worked 36 days so far. I’ve driven to work only 1 of those days. I’ve been picked up only once, last Friday when Erin and I had to make quick and get to the rehearsal dinner. I drove the shop van home on a Tuesday night to drive it down to Trek U on a Wednesday then drove it back to work on a Thursday. If you count one commuting day as 2 trips I’ve achieved 67 out of a possible 72 trips. I guess you could say this winter has been pretty tame by most measures.

I’ve been riding some form of bike since I was probably 6 or 7. When I was growing up in East Berlin, PA I rode around town on my sweet ‘Goose bmx’r. I rode all the time. During the summer I would be on my bike all day long. It is a cool town to cruise the streets. Not very big. Just big enough when you’re a little mx punk. Me and my bike buds had two tracks to race. One was almost a real bmx track. In the woods behind the elementary school. We had jumps and banked berms on it. The other track was an oval. All the guys were dirt trackin sprint car fans so it was no surprise we raced our bikes sprint car style too. Good fun. But most of the time it was just rolling the mean streets of EB. Look for trouble. Never finding any. Getting yelled at when I came home well after dark.

I think riding home at night is so much fun. It takes me back to those days in EB. Although I didn’t have a digital Niterider back then. Zinging around through the streets of Camp Hill now but not much different from EB. Tonight was especially sweet. There is a very odd series of intersections all tied together. Going home I come to a light, make a right over a humpback bridge, immediately hit another light, make a right, immediately hit another light, make a left, and over railroad tracks. Most nights I can make it through somewhat fluidly with a little braking and trackstanding. Tonight the planets aligned. First right turn, green light. Over the humpback, right turn green arrow. Left turn green arrow. As soon as I rolled across the RR tracks the gates lit up and started to drop. I did a two handed victory celebration. Must of looked like a ‘tard but it felt like I won something.

Riding at night always gives you a different perspective on things you see in the daylight. Shadows and moonlight or no moonlight. Everything is different. Sometimes I’ll turn my light off and ride by light of the moon. I recommend it.

If you haven't looked at The Original Jack Ass blog make sure you do so. One of the funniest dog pictures you'll ever see. Isn't there some expression out there about dogs and their owners looking alike? Nice work Josh.

Incredible sports action!

I just spent the last 45 minutes on the edge of my seat(couch) watching the Mighty Finn’s knock off the Canadians in some thrilling old time hockey. Philly Flyer and Finland goalie Antero Nittymaki shut ‘em down. Brilliant stuff. Oh yeah, there’s a bunch of ‘necks rolling around a giant oval playing bumper cars. Yawn. I couldn’t really sum up just how little I care anymore about Neckcar until I sat down to try and watch it. Yawn. I’m almost saddened by it really. I feel a little weird. I mean, I really once devoted large blocks of days towards Neckcar. Have I awakened from a 15yr slumber?

The lovely and beautiful Mrs K is whipping up some cookies. Choco chip w/ coconut and some other kinda nut. Not sure but these were a HUGE hit during the Xmas season.

Speaking of redneck. Last night was my sisters big wedding. Loads of fun. A very good time. I helped her keep the costs down by doubling as Brother of the Bride and also Wedding Photog. My digi cam is crap so Erin borrowed her Uncle Jimmy’s Canon Digital Rebel EOS. What a friggin awesome camera! Anyway, I shot almost 400 pictures for her to deal with. I was using all my technical gadgetry. It was a thing of beauty. I bought my wireless laptop just before Xmas. I loaded the Canon software on to the lapper. We headed down to Hampton, PA with a bag full of goodies. My Canon camera, the DigiRebel, a pile of USB cables/battery rechargers, and my lapper. The plan was to take as many pics as the memory card would allow and then download unto the lapper and start over. As soon as I got there I set up everything in a side room and immediately tried to test the operation. I snapped a couple quick pics and tried to download but realized I forgot the software disc that would guide me through the first download. I needed the driver(on the disc) that would allow the lapper to communicate with the camera. I tried to find a wireless internet connection inside the building but no dice. I figured the lapper was out of the question at that point so I’d just have to take less pictures than I’d hoped. With about 45 minutes to go before the wedding was to begin I had already used up half the memory card so I started to panic again. I told The Wifey I was going to get in my truck and drive around until I found a wireless connection. Now let me tell you a little something about Hampton. For those of you who know, you know. You could walk from one edge of town(it’s actually a village) to the other in under 5 minutes. Really small. I had no real hope of success but wouldn’t you know as soon as I got in my truck and opened my laptop I searched for a signal and immediately found one. I downloaded the driver I needed and voila, I was in business. Sweet! For the rest of the night I was able to take pictures with reckless abandon and download to the lapper when full. The moral of this story is easy. I embrace technology with a bear hug.

My favorite picture of the night

Followed by my second favorite(27)

We got home a little after 9pm and went straight to bed. I was pretty wiped out. Today sucked for the most part. Cold as an icebox outside. No real reason to be out. I don’t think the mercury ever even got a sniff of 32 degrees. I wonder how The Legend made out on his team ride this afternoon?

More sports. Back to the Olympics. Could anyone care less about these jerk-off American Olympians like that Bode douchbag or that Jacobellis snowboard chick who hotdogged on the way to a gold and ate shit and ended up second. Maybe her Visa Check card tripped her up. Sometimes it’s easy to see why American’s are so easy to hate if you live somewhere else. I did love watching the Nordic xc skiing last weekend. Definitely the hockey has been good. Curling is ok when the chicks are cute but otherwise what’s the point? More like a beer drinking activity much in the same vein as croquet or bowling or even this(memo to self: why do I ride when I could be doing that?).

The pro cycling scene is well under way now. A now steady flow of results on cyclingnews.com. Add that to the morning routine. CX season wrapped up today. I can’t wait until this fall.

Late.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Shits

This is my humble abode. Covered in white shit. Seems like a typical winter picture. But, let me point just a few subtleties out to you.

• First I hate snow. Erin loves it. Runs in the family I guess. If you gander at the empty carport and the freshly shoveled driveway you’ll notice Erin’s car is gone and the tire tracks she left behind high-tailing it out of here before any shovels were busted out. Yeah yeah, I’m the man, I shovel, I get it, blah blah, blah.
• Secondly, you can’t see it but in the front window all the way to the right you will find my faithful little sidekick Elwood laughing his kitty ass off at me as I shoveled said driveway. As many of you know, cats are your best friend when they’re hungry, otherwise all is fair game.
• Another thing you won’t notice but you can bet it’s happening as this picture was taken. Amy(The Mrs Legend) is most likely calling my house for the third time in 12 hours to bust my chops about all this white shit that landed on us. I haven’t checked the answering machine(never do anyway) yet but a betting man would lay good odds on it. No offense to The Legend but I hope your snow blower is dead…..and you make Amy help shovel…..in her bare precious little crooked feet.

Last night Erin and I went out to eat at this neat little joint called 2201 in the Boro. It’s a block away from HCF. El Jefe gave us a gift certificate for xmas so last night we braved the white shit and had a fantastic meal. We picked up a bottle of shirah for drinkage enjoyment. For an app we had grilled portabella ‘shrooms with asstd other veggies. I love portabellas. I love grilled veggies. I would have been content eating a giant platter of that all night. Very tastey. For the entrée Erin had a salmon fillet with mango salsa. Looked good. I had linguini with chicken and shrimp. The very first bite I knew I was in the presence of greatness. It was pretty incredible. I rarely eat an entire entrée but it was so damn good I couldn’t stop eating. I was stuffed but every one of the desserts would have been a go for me. Two thumbs way up.

There is a good bit of NASCAR on today. There was a time when I would not miss a single lap of racing action but I tell you, I just don’t have the same passion for it anymore. I don’t know that I can put a finger on exactly when or why I’m not a huge fan anymore. There isn’t one driver that I can root for. I guess there are a few I can root against. ‘Ol Peter Puffer would be at the top of that list. When I was a huge fan there was no one I rooted for more than The Intimidator. And that may answer why I can’t get into it like I once did. It’s hard to believe it’s been 5yrs since that dreadful day. Say what you want about The King but in my opinion no one made more of a difference on and off the track than Dale Earnhardt. The man was a Bad-Ass. End of discussion. It doesn’t help that most of today’s young drivers are a bunch of punks and most of your older good guys(Awesome Bill, Rudd, Jarrett, Rusty, etc.) are retired or headed that way. It’s probably one reason I’ve gotten skinny. Years ago I would wake up on a Sunday morning and eat a pound of bacon along with 9 eggs(slight exaggeration) and wait for the racin to start. Then I’d sit on my lard ass and jam a bag of chips and a pint of ice cream down my cake-hole. Now I’m out riding for a couple three hours on a Sunday morning/afternoon then maybe I’ll catch the last 10-20 laps. Whatever.

Pleasant day to you all. Enjoy your white shit.

The Sky is Shitting

I hope all you white shit loving rejects are happy. Take great joy in my misery as I drift into an altered state of reality. Suckers.

More blaaah

Man I hate winter. It just seems like nothing much happens or if something half interesting does happen I don’t feel like saying much about it. Being cold has a way of sucking the life outta me.

So today Seve and I rolled down to the Charm City to attend Trek U. it’s pretty much just a slick way of getting bike shop employees out of the shop and into a hotel conference room for a day. It’s a waste of time for the most part. As long as I’ve worked in the bike industry it’s difficult to attend something like this and learn or hear something new. It’s also brutal to ask someone who stands and moves around a lot in a typical day to sit down for 8hrs. Days like today make my ADD blatantly obvious. I was going bonkers. I passed the time by eating approx 9 choc/peanut butter chip cookies and 4 Diet Cokes. In the afternoon when the discussion hit the Trek comfort bikes I had had enough so I split and cruised the shoppes in and around the hotel. There was a Williams & Sonoma nearby. Neat place. Tremendously overpriced stuff but they do have some cool cooking goodies. Anyway, I did that for about an hour or so until Trek U was wrapping up. For being good attendees we all received a t-shirt and a Trek beanie. Just what I need. Another t-shirt.

I did learn something cool about Trek’s plans for the future. Or at least one of their plans. Look for them to get into custom bikes. More than just Project One stuff. I’m talking custom geometry type stuff. Pretty incredible stuff considering the crazy costs of OCLV carbon frames as it is. Also consider that The Man rode off the shelf bikes for all 7. Obviously he got all the cool new stuff long before we, the consumers, ever saw it but everything he rode was stock. Sounds like they will be revamping the LeMond line a little next year. That should be fun because my last and current road sleds are LeMonds. After ‘ol Greg blasted Lance a couple years ago it wasn’t a stretch to imagine Trek not renewing their agreement with LeMond and perhaps moving towards an Armstrong brand of bikes or something along those lines. Not to be, at least not in the foreseeable future. I don’t think I heard anything about Klein at all today. Wonder where that’s headed?

The Wifey and I are getting our taxes done tomorrow. We’re hoping for a decent enough return to rip the carpet out of our house and getting the hardwood floors refinished. I’m crossing my fingers.

V-day is fast approaching. I suppose I need to do a little shopping this weekend. Didn’t I just have to go to the mall something like a week ago for xmas? Whomever comes up with these shopping holidays needs to reconsider where they land on the calendar. Two visits to the mall in two months is downright awful. Mrs K has been getting a box of Truffles the past few years which I know she loves but I need a little something else. Dunno. I hate shopping. Yo Mrs Legend. Could I just give you a twenty and have you pick something up for your Cuz when you go shopping this weekend? Save me the hassle.

Bon voyage.

Noise Polution

Anybody else think that new Nike/ACDC commercial is just about the coolest ad ever seen on the tele? It really does inspire me to at least entertain the thought of rolling outta bed at the crack-ass of dawn and go outside and just do it. I can visualize it. Nike hit a homerun with that one.

AI sucked tonight. The early weeks are great for watching all the clowns go down in flames but tonight even the tards weren’t that funny. A harbinger of things to come? I’m sure all of you, my loyal readers, were riveted to your chairs last night when the Flyers stormed back from two goals down to win one in OT against the NYR. Again, I ask you, how can you not find entertainment in that? Wait, don’t answer that. It was rhetorical.

Hebe dropped off some grub from Panera today. Good stuff. Thanks man.

W is speaking to the nation right now. Here’s another question for you. Whether you lean right as I do or left, does the mere sight or sound of a politician drive you up the wall. I’m not just talking about the prez. I mean all of ‘em. Republicans, Dems, they’re all a bunch of Aholes. Right or left, right or wrong, just a bunch of chumps. Here in PA the issue the past 6 months or so has been the pay raise the legislators gave themselves and the outrage that ensued. After the entire taxpaying public had a meltdown the payraise was revoked. In the coming months those who voted for it will meet their day of reckoning. Shit hit the fan and people are still pissed. A lot of state senators and representatives will be out of a cushy job.

Anyway, back to W. He’s quite a polarizing fella. As is the war. IMHO he can’t win. After 9/11 if he did little or nothing (ie Slick Willy lobbing a couple firecrackers at a garment factory after the USS Cole was attacked) who knows where we’d be in terms of our security here or abroad. Obviously we all know what the war has stirred up.

Enough of politics. I hate bringing it up and I apologize for it. Politics is one of those things that either pisses someone off or puts someone to sleep.

41 days for you. 42 days for me. Sonsabitches!

Blaaah

A pretty uneventful week. I haven’t had much to say about riding lately mainly because I haven’t ridden all that much. I think I’m going to try a different approach to riding this year. In years past I would ride from April thru September and call it a day after that. Pretty much a fair weather rider. I’d get fat in the winter and spend three months trying to drop back to a “summer” weight. Ultimately, I ended up a terminal fat-ass. The weight stopped coming off. My all-time fattest was 177lb. Once I got serious about getting fit and healthy I rode a lot more and ate much better and riding became much more of a daily routine. I did Hebe’s first CX race and got my ass handed to me in the C race. I didn’t like that feeling of getting womped, so again, riding took more of a priority. Now, at this point, I’ve stayed on my bike for two solid years. No time off. Straight through winter. Not that I was doing huge miles in the winter but every day off I was riding. So, here we are late January and I’ve taken it easy the past few weeks and feel really good about it. I’ve added a couple lbs but it honestly feels great to just chill for a little. A couple weekends ago Erin and I went over to Pinchot and hiked for 2hrs. I have continued to commute just about every day this year so far but that’s more a way of life as opposed to training. I’ve stayed active.

So how is my approach this year going to differ from years past? I made a deal with the devil, so to speak. In exchange for building 4 wheels for Coach Hebe he gives structure to my riding from Mid-March thru ‘cross. Essentially, I will be doing the same workouts as Mike just two months behind him. Basically what that means is this; I’m going to get my miles in, just not right now. I’ll probably end up riding approx the same total miles as last year but with structure the miles will have more purpose. Quality miles instead of JRA. I’m hoping the end result is more power and speed for ‘cross. Hopefully I can gain a couple more minutes during CX. If I could have done the three B races I did in ’05 two minutes faster I would have been at least top five to possibly battling for the lead. Easier said than done but if you break it down to 15-20 seconds per lap it doesn’t seem quite as outta reach. Stay tuned.

Tonight I will begin a countdown. A countdown to a day that’s been long overdue. I know there are some of you who are also on the edge of your seat waiting for this day. March 12th. Enough said. My anguish is this. VisitPA Ray and I are headed up to the Serotta compound in Saratoga Springs, NY to attend a three day bike fit seminar. March 9-13. The 9th and 13th are drive days. 5hr trip. No way around it. Even if we do the drive home on the 12th after the seminar ends we’d never make it back to the ‘Burg in time. My best case scenario is to catch the replay on Monday night, the 13th. I just have to rely on my wife and friends to not spoil anything before I can watch it. Funny thing about Erin is she claims the show is disgusting and horrible yet she will plant herself right next to me and doesn’t miss an episode. If I did my math correctly there are 42 days until you, my friends get to watch. 43 days until I do. Dammit!

Wow, it sure was nice today. Another day of sun means another day without that miserable white shit. GOODNIGHTNOW!

What color is your neck?

We’ve got digital cable here at the Kessel Ranch. Included in the package we have is about 9 different Cinemax channels. In the past two weeks I think I’ve watched bits and pieces of Sideways just about every other night and it gets better every time I see it. Some might think it’s slow and I wouldn’t disagree but it is interesting and pretty damn funny. Two thumbs way up.

So, last Wednesday I woke up and felt a little not-so-great-but-I’ll-go-to-work-anyway. I was out delivering all day and I progressively felt crappier. By the time I got home in the evening my head was boiling and I ached like a mf’er. Dunno what was going on but I managed to sleep ok and felt better Thursday. Weird stuff though. I was hating life Wed night. Glad it’s not the flu or something along those lines.

Now, just for The Mrs Legend, I must confess my attendance to my sisters bridal shower Saturday night. Believe me, it’s not something I was thrilled about but I feel like I do have a good excuse. First you have to know a little info about me and Mrs Kessel. She’s born and raised in Cape May, NJ. My sister and I were born and raised in Adams County, PA. Translation: My sister(Shannon) and I grew up in a major redneck area of Pennsyltucky. Erin grew up far from it. So when Erin was invited to attend Shannon’s bridal shower I felt a small responsibility to (A) get here there, as she had no idea where on earth she was going, and (B) shield her from as much redneckery as I could, as she knows none of Shannon’s friends. The end result was really no big deal. There were approx 20 cackling women in attendance but it was pretty tame. We had dinner and had some laughs and were home by 10pm. I know Shannon and some of her friends made a allnighter of it but we had enough. The wedding should be real interesting. I moved away from all that redneckidness 10yrs ago. I don’t want to portray myself as better than a redneck, only to say that I AM a redneck who wears a figurative scarf to cover it up. I’m sure it’ll be a riot.

Toys. The Wifey will tell you I have enough already. My thoughts are you can never have too many. My latest desire is Satellite Radio. Way back when I was a little punk I was always drawn to AM radio. I would go to bed every night with a radio in my bed and I’d try to tune in anything sports related and if I couldn’t find that I’d settle for anything that sounded interesting. Who else remembers when Dr Ruth was on radio? Believe me, when your 11yrs old Dr Ruth is VERY interesting. Point being, for over 20 years of my life I’ve enjoyed talk radio. Before I was married I would go to sleep and just leave the radio on all night. It may sound weird but it’s soothing to me to fall asleep to a couple clowns debate the latest sports news. After marriage falling asleep with the radio barking full blast has become a little more of a no-no. My sleep suffered. Using the “marriage is full of compromises” ploy didn’t work with The Wifey on that matter so my solution was, drumroll, earphones. Can you believe my wife makes me go to sleep every night with earphones in my head just so I can sleep well? At any rate, I’m diggin the variety I can get with XM and also the ability to listen at home or in car seems pretty cool. I haven’t picked it up yet. Within a month or so.

Speaking of my truck. I filled the tank this morning. I was trying to remember the last time before today. I knew it was a while. As I was sitting there waiting for the tank to fill I found the receipt from the last fill up. November 26th. 59 days ago. Beauty, eh?

Patience

I have too much I want to write and no attention span right now to blog so pipe down and sit tight. Yes, I attended my sister’s bridal shower and it couldn’t have been more UNeventful. Just a lot of necks hangin’ out at the local watering hole. Now get back to grooming your feet and take a pill.

I'll have the roast duck

I hate to sound like a broken record but, holy shit, I’ve done nothing but deliver fitness ever since the first of the year. I honestly thought it would have tailed off a bit by now but it seems like people are showing up by the bus load to buy this stuff. Especially ellipticals. Especially this elliptical. Also selling a bunch of this treadmill. Anyway, it’s a little exhausting heaving this crap up and down and all around homes all day but it is cool to be out of the shop hours at a time. Yesterday five pieces. Today 4 pieces. Tomorrow a trip to Ghettosburg followed by Hershey followed by a short trip to Mechanicsburg. All ellipticals. Should be fun. My day off Thursday looks like another great weather day. Lucky me. Still waiting for that snow Amy. Heh heh.

I purchased my first USCF license November of last year. Upon receiving it I noticed they are trying to classify ‘crossers similar to roadies. I think. My license has me a Category 4 which I believe may be the case with anyone buying their first license. I haven’t raced much but I have done some and with satisfying results so it was my wish to try and upgrade from a Cat 4 to at least a 3. My understanding is a 4 is a beginner and a 1 is a flat out rocket. On Nate’s recommendation I submitted a request to the USCF for an upgrade. Better to get it done now instead of waiting until the fall. I listed my results from the past two years and shot for a Cat 2 thinking it wouldn’t hurt to gun for it. What’s the worst that could happen? So, today I got my answer. I opened the email expecting an upgrade to a 3. Turns out they made me a 2. Awesome! I’m still not sure what that means in the grand scheme of things but I’d imagine what that means is I can race in any race I want with the only exception being a UCI Elite race. Which would never cross my mind. In the past cross races ran C(fast), B(faster), A(fastest) along with masters(35+) and women and juniors. I started in ’03 and’04 doing C races getting my feet wet. In ’05 I jumped up to the B’s and got my feet wetter. I had a couple great races. Now my fantastic coach has laid down the law for ’06. A full MAC sked. I can’t wait. What I’m curious about, if I may bore you just a little longer, is will ‘cross promoters continue to run races A-B-C or make things easier to figure out run 1-2/3-3/4 at UCI’s and 1/2-2/3-3/4 at non-UCI’s? Hmmm.

The Wifey is over at her friends house watching the new American Idol tonight. Her and Nicki work together and seem to have a grand ole time together. Next week I think we’re hosting the AI part. Joy. As long as it doesn’t interrupt anything involving a frozen pond and a rubber puck we should be ok.

Until we meet again.

Sir, Is your head on fire?

Another amazing day today. 61 and blazin sun. More importantly, I was off. I had a few chores The Wifey asked me to do. As much as I wanted to leave the xmas lights up all year it probably was the right time to take ‘em down. So, after the chores were done it was time to get out for a little ride.

Unfortunately I just missed Hebe’s call to see if I was riding. Call my cell. I ALWAYS carry it with me on rides. You never know when a BB might fail 13 miles from home. Legendary. What a great ride today. I was dressed perfectly. There wasn’t much wind. Just a beautiful day. I even covered up my knees at the urging of Coach Hebe. I hated to do it but it’s for the best. I also stayed in my small ring the entire ride. It made a big difference. Funny how something like that, a no brainer really, makes such a difference. Dumb, to be honest. There is no reason at all to be in my 53 right now. I rode almost 2 ½ hrs and felt fresh enough to go another hour more if I weren’t so damn hungry. Learn. Remember.

I saw the funniest thing today while riding. I hit a road popular with the local bike club and wasn’t surprised to see a few other people riding also. I came up over a rise and noticed a rotund figure on a comfort mtn bike sittin WAY upright JRA. As I get closer, I notice what appeared to be a big puff of smoke coming from this fellas head. Weird? It’s too warm for me to see this guys breath. Is his head on fire? WTF? It all came into focus as I passed our subject. A thing of beauty. Old fat guy riding his comfort rig with a giant stogie hanging out of his mouth, Clint Eastwood style. A little wave and that was that, but man what a sight. Give him partial credit for getting his fat ass out to exercise.

I keep forgetting to mention that VisitPA Ray asked his girlfriend, Nancy, for her hand in marriage. He got a positive answer so look for a wedding down the road. Congrats on the news. Drop Ray a call or email and offer him all the advice we can. It’s our duty as men to look out for each other in times like this.

I finally linked up Josh’s blog which you’ll find on the right under The Original Jack Ass. He lives in NoCal but grew up right here in Dillsburg, PA. He started working at Holmes when he was 15. We made a man outta young Josh. Or corrupted him. Take your pick. Depends who you talk to, I guess. He ended up getting married to Beth, the chick he was dating while working at Holmes, so I suppose we didn’t mold him into too bad of a guy. Smart as a whip and the fascinating ability to make grown men act like an 8yr old. I never had so much fun. Anyway, check him out.

I also finally got around to linking up Ryan Leech, aka Dieter. I don’t know him very well but he is the fastest ‘crosser we have in the MAC and has a way with words I always find a good read.
GOODNIGHTNOW!

Free Delivery

Things have finally settled down a little at Holmes. The fact that I didn’t work much over the holiday and we sold an ass load of fitness meant I was out delivering shit all last week and the first part of this week. Last week was nuts. I worked 30hrs last week but I’m sure I was on the road 26 of those hours delivering. Not that I was complaining much. Any time I can spend outside the shop makes for a less stressful day. And before I get made fun of for calling a bike shop stressful let me explain. This time of year we are nowhere near as busy as summer. Since The Boss Man refuses to spend any time away from the shop save for a few weeklong trips a year, it actually is hard work trying to find something to do. No cubicle to hide in. No office. Just pretend you’re busy when you’re not. That’s my stress. Now put my stress up against The Wifey’s(Distance Learning School Teacher) or Mrs Legend’s(PA Court System-what do you do again?) or The Legend’s(pimping drugs to doctor’s) or a Heart Surgeon or a Marine or a, well you get the idea. My stress is really nothing at all and I would never let you think it was anything more than a minor annoyance.

So, last Saturday my delivery travels took me on a 6hr trip through some of PA’s more beautiful countryside. From Harrisburg to State College to Bedford and back. It’s not often we deliver something that far away but it does happen on occasion. I haven’t been up to Happy Valley in 10yrs. As much as I rag on PSU I have to admit it is a pretty area of PA. Nice drive. Got minimally lost. No worries. From SC we went to Bedford via the Bud Schuster highway. Imagine the nicest highway you’ve ever seen with exactly two other vehicles on it. A mega road in the middle of nowhere paid for by YOUR tax dollars courtesy of one of the “porkiest” politicians ever. Anyway, it was a splendid drive down past Altoona into Bedford. I’ve never been out past Altoona so it was cool to see just how hilly and rolling the terrain is. I now have a better idea just how brutal the ‘Toona Stage Race must be.

Once we hit Bedford the trip sorta sucked. Who hasn’t been on the PA Turnpike a hundred times. Drag. Nevertheless, I managed to stay out of the shop until closing time. Sweet.

Knowing I just may jinx myself here but I ask you. Isn’t this just how winter should be? Who likes to shiver? We’re all grownups now. No more snow days. No more early dismissals. No more two-hour delays. Who really wants the hassle brought on by The White Shit From the Sky? I know eventually it will snow again but, man, enjoy this weather while it’s here. A gift.

Poo

I think I'm getting sick. My head is boiling. Damn. I took a couple aspirin. Feeling a little better. I thing some of the guys at work are getting over something. Hopefully nothing big. I can’t tell The Wifey or I’ll be overwhelmed with a cornucopia of motherly nursing. Not that it would be a bad thing but she doesn’t need to spend all night worried about it. She was in bed tonight by 7:41. I think getting back to work after a week and a half off is draining her.

I got out for 25 today. I was so unenthused until I actually got on my bike and got going. Then it was good. Nice day really. No sun but not bad. I kicked and squished the last bit of snow in my yard today. My property is now snow free. I hate that stuff. I see no forecast for any that white shit either. Rejoice.

I worked Tues and Wed this week and I was out delivering fitness (treadmills and ellipticals) all day both days. We’ve been selling a crazy amount of fitness in the past few weeks. We had a ridiculous year at Holmes. We sunk our major bike competitor last April which is when bikes really take off. We had a record year which was super cool. Busier than hell makes for a hectic day but when the end of the year bonus checks get handed out it makes it feel worth it. Now fitness is blowing up. Keeps us busy year round.

Flyers win. Seven seconds into OT. Gotta love that kind of finish. Speaking of finish. Why I hate Penn State. They barely beat a mediocre Florida State team in an absolutely awful display of how to lose a football game. The game was dreadful from a football standpoint. Were there any first downs in the third quarter? The game was pretty entertaining in OT mainly because neither wanted to win it. Anyway, all you hear on TV and radio is how PSU wins a classic game and what a fantastic night of football it was. I guess that’s what drives me nuts more than JoePa and the team are the knucklehead fans. I realize I live in PA and it’s exactly what the TV and radio dudes are meant to cover and not all PSU fans are dicknoses but it still is hard to digest at times. Last nights Texas v SoCal game was incredible. Either one of those teams would have mopped the floor with ’ol PSU.

L8

We made it through last nights festivities unscathed. The beer pong smack down never materialized. I was disappointed considering all the unsolicited taunting we were getting throughout the day. Apparently our gracious and wonderful(legendary even) hosts perceived us as a significant pong threat so they busted out some tard game I was less than committed to. We quickly moved to another game that we’ve played before. I forget the name but it was fun and always gets good laughs. The main strategy is the art of bullshittery. I’m not saying I’m a better bullshitter than anyone else but I have made it almost 35yrs doing something right.

Mr & Mrs Legend and the lovely Mrs K

I was happy to see Dick Clark back on the tube. A bit shaky, yes, but give him credit for not mailing it in and calling it a day. Another observation. At what point did Mariah Carey resume her career as a hippo?

Speaking of hippos. I love the Legendary Cat, Hobbes, as if he were my own. But it has been a running joke about his impressive roundness. So, with photographic evidence, you make the call. He is a cool little(?) fella.

Hobbesy, Closing in on a perfectly round ball of Cat

I went out for a ride yesterday after it rained for a bit. Just a short ride but something dawned on me that I haven’t thought of yet. I put more miles on my bikes this year than I put on my 4.0L V6 fire-breathing pick-up rig. Another first. I know to some this is no big deal but I’m in uncharted territory. I’m finding the more I ride the easier it gets to keep on riding. Right now it truly is part of my daily routine to be on a bike. And ask my lovely wife how grumpy I get when I go a day or two without a bike. So, of course, today I got out for another hour to kick off the year on the right note. I’m trying to remember but doesn’t it seem that January 1st is ALWAYS a nice day. I feel like I ride every NYD. Nice.

Pork sauerkraut taties peas. Courtesy of Erin’s parents. Yum. Fart. Courtesy of me. Yum. Now we sit in front of the ’ol 55’er watching the Skins and Eagles do battle in HD. Art.

One more day off tomorrow. And what a day it will be. College Foosball all day. Throw in a Flyers matinee at 1pm. There will most assuredly be a plethora of movies to watch. It will be a true manly man day of couch potatoness. Beauty, eh? Stop in and visit. 3023.2

"That wall looks tastey. Maybe i'll eat the wall"

BM

3003.4 road bike miles from January 1st to December 30th. Yesterday I got out for a decent ride. It was a little breezy but not too cold. I wasn’t planning on riding today due to a crap forecast but right now it doesn’t look too threatening outside and the radar seems to agree. I might go out for a little for no other reason than I have nothing else to do. My original plan was to bolt myself to the couch all day in front of the 'ol 55'er but that was interrupted by a massive shit cramp. Had to take care of that so now I’m up and looking for something to do.

Last night Erin and I met our friends Zach & Angela at Coakley's for some grub. I love hanging out with them but we don’t see them near as much since they became proud parents to little Jocelyn. So we powered down some wings and had some dinner and caught up on things. Good times.

Tonight we'll ring in the New Year with the Legendary Mr & Mrs. I’m wonder where I’ll be sleeping tonight? My own bed or face-down in the Hebe’s flower bed? Neither me or The Wifey are big drinkers so it won’t take much to get me vociferous and cantankerous. Perhaps garrulous even. I love MS Word. Anyway, should be fun. Stay tuned for more.

364

Done for another year. We had a good time last weekend giving and receiving. Visiting and hosting. Eating and, well, eating. Much fun was had. I think everyone was happy with the gifting. I was. I can’t remember ever getting so many edible gifts but that’s just fine with me. Perhaps my favorite was a couple boxes of Bottle Caps. I guess I made such a big deal on Halloween about how much I love those things and haven’t seen them since I was a kid. I think I lived on those things when I was 10. Anyway, Erin’s dad bought me two boxes of ‘em.


However, The Legend gets the most points for edible gifting. Being an almost daily visitor to the bike shop he has noticed my love of mangos and kiwis AND cashews(eaten separately). And wouldn’t you know The Legendary Mr & Mrs provide me with a fruit/nut/chocolate basket of delight. Yum.

A key to skinnyness

Little Elwood got some kitty toys to monkey around with. Erin wrapped his gift laced with catnip and he was flipping out trying to rip it open. I got him those fake but real looking furry mice toys. He loved it. All his primal kitty hunting skills were in full display. Cats are a riot.

Elwood giving his mouse the business

So Monday it was back to work for an abbreviated work week. Turns out it was more abbreviated than I thought it would be. I was expecting to work all day Monday and Tuesday until 5pm and then hit the road to Jim Thorpe for a couple nights. Turns out I miscalculated how many vacation days I had left considering xmas was Sunday. Allen, the boss man(owner), told me my services were not needed on Tuesday. Sweet! That extra day off allowed me to ride an hour before we cruised up to Thorpe and still get there hours earlier than we would have had I worked.

Tootpick dispenser

Thorpe was cool. We hit all the little antique/junk/crafts(junk)/knickknack type stores. Ate good food. Relaxed a ton. Rested up for the remaining 5 days off I have before I go back to work.

Today I’m going to nail down the remaining 29.3 miles I need to hit 3k for the year. Tomorrow looks like crap so it has to be today. I weighed myself this morning fearing the worst but again being amazed at the findings. 148 and 9.4. I can definitely feel a softening of the belly but for as much garbage that I’ve eaten the past few weeks I can’t believe I’m not fatter. I won’t argue or complain though.

For the puck fan in all of you. Can it get any more entertaining for a Flyers fan than two consecutive overtime wins on back to back nights. There was one point in last nights game where the action was end to end back and forth rushes up the ice when I commented to my hockey loving wife “how can you NOT love this?”

I took a picture of Elwood from about 30 feet away in low light while he was frolicking in the gift wrap hammering away at his mouse. Check out this picture. Don't mess with little El.

Time to ride. 43 and overcast. It is December so I’m thinking sunny would be great but this really ain’t so bad. Happy new year.

What a beautiful day. We got started this morning with some seriously good breakfast. I won’t even get into the details but trust me friends, major grease. Then we picked up a couple pizzas and dropped ‘em off at the bike shop. I felt bad that those guys were working and I wasn’t. They dug it. Sounds like they sold a bunch of stuff yesterday. We’ve been selling a shit load of bikes this month. More than usual.

This afternoon I got out for another 2hrs on my road bike. Third day in a row. I didn’t feel to bad. I dicked around Lewisberry then over around Ski Roundtop. Never too far from home but zig-zagging just in case I lost interest but it was sooo frickin nice I couldn’t justify cutting a ride short. I went with the shorts again. I think today was warmer than yesterday. Definitely the sun was out more. Hebe yelled at me for not wearing tights and I know he’s right but as I stated previously my mood is lifted tremendously when I can ride in shorts in the winter. 2952 as it stands right now. Looks like I’ll get my 3k but it won’t be ‘til later next week. Tomorrow is busy. Work Monday and Tuesday. Thorpe Wednesday and Thursday. Sheesh.

Tonight we went over to Erin’s cousins place for a little xmas eve gathering. Calvin & Amy and little Riley and Maggie. Calvin is brother of Mrs Legend. More goodies to cram down my cake hole. I’m overloading on high calorie mega-fattening grub. I love it. Tis the season, eh? Now, as I sit here and bang away, Erin and Emily are half asleep still planning on going to church at 11pm. Not me. I’ll probably bust out the PS2 when they leave.

NYE with Mr and Mrs Legend. Dinner at Zia’s then who knows what afterward. Fun and frolicking for sure. Should be a great time.

Late.

Yum

The Wifey just crafted some cookies. Cake batter w/choc chips and coconut. Heavenly. Best cookie I ate all day. Another 90 minutes today on the roadie. I rode out to Pheasant Field B&B where Erin was visiting the owners. We had our wedding ceremony there 2 1/2yrs ago. Nice place. Anyway, it was 53 in my neck of the woods so, I know it's December 23rd but I busted out the shorts and balmed up the legs. Perfect. To me it's theraputic to look down and see some bare skin on my legs. Being all bundled up all winter demoralizes my fickle mind. Tomorrow looks like more of the same weather. I believe all that's going on for me is breakfast at the in-laws and a party at the cousin-in-laws tomorrow night. All afternoon to ride, maybe. The LeMond is getting grimey. I need to give it it's winter overhaul.

Until next time. Cheers.

Crash schmash

Wow! Another 2hr ride today. Tomorrow is meant to be high 40’s. Saturday too. And I’m off both days. If I don’t be careful I’m going to get fit again. At least it gives me a reason to eat my ass off without much consequence. Hebe and I got out. Flat stuff this time. Good times. No crashes. BTW, are we sick of bickering about this alleged crash? A quick innocent innocuous little spill and all the sudden Mrs Legend says “pay me”. Phooey. Stick to drive-by hobo harassing.

The family-in-law stopped over tonight to catch some Flyers HD hockey. Flyers v Ottawa. Great game. Emily was at the game in Philly and called us right as a goal was scored. It was pretty cool to hear over the phone the mega-airhorn blast when Philly lit the lamp. I asked for an airhorn for my basement as a gift but no one has stepped up to the plate yet.

I just played PS2 for a couple hours. College Football(Bama). Now it’s 2AM and I have a serious case of playstation thumb. And I’m kinda wired. I probably should go to bed but if I’m not sleepy I might annoy The Wifey by fidgeting for an hour. That’s why you’re getting a half-assed blog entry in the middle of the night.

I feel like eating some wings. I also had an urge to power down some funnel cake earlier tonight. I better put in 3hrs on the road sled tomorrow with my appetite what it is right now. Have any of you ever noticed that there is no food that can’t be improved by adding bacon. Go ahead, try to come up with anything. “Bacon tastes good. Pork chops tastes good“. Name that movie quote. Ponder that, until next time. GOODNIGHTNOW!

Beautiful

I just knocked out all my shopping in less than 3hrs today. The Wifey. Check. D.J. Check. My sis. Check. Greg, soon to be brother-in-law. Check. My father-in-law. Check. Glen & Lupe. Yep. Everyone got gift cards except for The Wifey. I love gift cards because they are easy to purchase. No thought needed. Walk to the register. Bang, your done. And, I for one, rather enjoy receiving a gift card instead of a strange stab at something I may or may not like. Some will say it’s the thought that counts when it you open up a shaving kit or a pair of new shoelaces. I say, humbug. Gift card me.

Joining me today and making a stressful event like shopping much more enjoyable was The Wifey’s sis, Emily. She’s cool. We had a good time. As long as I’ve know Erin’s family, I never really had much chance to get to know Em. She saved me a big headache today simply by putting the idea in my head to cross the river over to the East Shore where practically every store I wanted to hit was in the same complex. Otherwise I’d have been yanking my hair out on this side driving to 19 different stores fighting traffic all the way. The last place we stopped was the Bass Pro Shop. It was my first visit to that mega-store. Holy shit that place is huge. Giant stuffed wildlife everywhere. Pretty amazing place. Anyway, it was cool to get to know Em a little. She LOVES hockey too, BTW. Are there any single dudes out there looking for a beach/surf/hockey lovin’ chick?

Now, despite my best wishes to get on my bike, I realize I need to chisel the inch of ice off our driveway before someone dies. Freaking winter. Grin and bear it.

Good day.

Sleep, eat, ride, eat, couch, eat, eat

Today I went out for a road ride with The Legend. I wasn’t expecting to ride as long or as hard as I did nor did Mike but in the end it wasn’t so bad. He was on a Surly Steamroller(1sp-fixed) while I had 20 gears at my disposal. I’ve pondered the acquisition of a fixie but just riding one around the block at Holmes makes me hesitate. It’s not an easy thing to pilot. A perpetual forward spin. As I found out today it’s not easy to ride with someone who is on a fixie. I guess if we had found some flat stuff it would have been no big deal. Where we live, however, is far from flat unless you head out towards Mechanicsburg which is approx 10miles out. Anyway, the plan was for 90minutes or so but ended up 2hrs+ for me. 38 miles. It was a good ride, really. The hardest I’ve ridden in a month. Problem was, with me geared and Mike not, and a fairly rolling parcours, we weren’t very well matched. When I was cruising downhill(53-15), Mike was pedaling his ass off. When I was spinning uphill(38-21), Mike was crushing a 40-17. Needless to say, what was a hard ride for me must have been doubly so for The Legend. If the nickname fits, eh?

One of the beauties of such a long hard ride on a Sunday is the relative guilt free existence I can experience the rest of the day. Food. Football. In no particular order. Lots of it too. I think I ate around 17 Hershey Kiss sugar cookies today. Maybe a half a pound of brownies. Pretzels. Chips. A slice of pizza. The Wifey made some shrimp scampi tonight. Ice cream. Am I missing anything?

How many of these can you cram in 1 day?

I have off tomorrow so I get to do it all again. Weather looks decent. I only need a little over 100 miles to wrap up 3k miles on my road sled. A full 1k more than last year. Between my LeMond and my TCX(‘cross/commuter) I will have ridden over 7500 miles since Jan 1st 2004. I know it’s chump change for some but it’s easily more than all I’ve ridden in the 5 or 6 years prior combined. Nice.

The Wifey wants to take a trip over to Europe one of these days. I mentioned something about a trip to catch a ‘cross race in Belgium or somewhere nearby would be cool and she’s totally into it. At this point it may have to wait until after our ‘06 season but I’m glad she’s cool about it. Where are ’cross worlds in ’07?

I’m watching football on espn(HD!) right now. The game is in Chicago. It’s 9 degrees with a -7 windchill. All that’s missing is snow. What I love is all the dudes playing in short sleeves. Great stuff.

No mas.

The Art of Cold

The weather is crap again. Or, it never really stopped being crappy from my last post. It’s only midway through December but I feel like its February. It has been down right arctic the past week. As some of you know I hate being cold down to my last fiber. I try to confront my hatred head-on though. I choose to ignore being cold. The Wifey has been trying to purchase me a winter coat for years to no avail. I have a thin little 50degree Bontrager rain jacket that I call the winter coat. Works beautifully…….for 50degrees. My fickle brain says if I wear a giant puffy fagish winter coat, I admit defeat. I’m pretty sure the temperature hasn’t been above 30 since the Sat/Sun. This hasn’t stopped me from ridding to/from work this week. I like doing this for a couple reasons. One, as I’ve stated, driving to work is admitting defeat. Second, is knowing that if I KNOW I can ride when mercury reads 10, I KNOW I can fly when it reads 25 or 30 or 35. 40 is balmy. VisitPA Ray also rode in this week as well. Even Kenny rode in yesterday. Mucho macho men.

All this leads me to something I wonder about. The human spirit. ‘Cross Nationals were held last weekend up in RI. Without me. I’ve read the reports and seen the pics & videos. Nutty weather. Friday was the worst in terms of bad weather. Temps in the low 30’s, 3-4 inches of snow followed by sleet/freezing rain/rain/heavy rain accompanied by 25-35+mph winds. Mike’s race, 35-39, is when the it all hit at once. Video from parts of that race can be seen via a link on Hebe’s blog. 150+ racers started the race. Approx 50 or so finished. Without being there, and I will be next year, I wonder what goes through an individuals mind as he races in crap like that. What makes 100 guys drop out when 50 DID finish. They’re all racing in the same conditions. Is it physical? Mental? Both? What makes a dude who finishes regularly a minute or two or three behind another but on this one day in these conditions finish when the other doesn’t. I know quite a few of the people that did the race, finish or not, were driven to an emotional depth that they never thought they could or would ever want to reach. A level of cold that only an Eskimo would have a handle on. I'm sure i'd have DNF'd that race. Or not, I guess it's almost as easy to say I wouldn't have than it is to say I would have. Without being there it's silly for me to say. One thing is for certain, my hat is off to everyone who raced at Nationals especially those who raced Friday. It’s unfortunate that the weather was what it was last weekend. It sounds as though the course would have been awesome otherwise. Regardless, some had great weekends. I was happy to see Ryan Leech(The MAC’s fastest) had a great race Saturday. 14th in the Men’s Elite. If you read his thoughts, I think he was pretty stoked as well. Nice ride. Fort James did a nice ride in the B race. So, the season is done. No more ‘cross until next fall. When will Dieter begin counting down the days?

It’s official. The Wifey and I now live in a WirelessDSL home. Pretty sweet. Faster than I ever imagined. It took a while for the Verizon techies to remotely figure out why their software was not connecting but once it did I can’t say enough how great it is. Wireless Toshiba lapper downstairs. Dell PC in the office. Smooth.

Damn, this year is rapidly coming to a close. I have a lot of days off between now and Jan 1st. I only work 6 more days this year. We’re headed back up to Jim Thorpe for a couple nights after Xmas. I like it up there. Neat little town.

Stay warm.

F!

The sky is shitting again. F-ing snow. I hope you're happy JB.

Someone is adding a year

Mrs. Legend is having a B-Day tomorrow Dec 5th. I won’t say what number this is but make sure you jump over to her freshly done up blog and wish her a great day.

Frosty The Shitman

I woke up this morning and looked outside to find a bunch of white shit all over the place. Man, nothing puts me in a rotten mood more. It always sucks when it snows but especially on a Sunday. That’s my day to ride. Well, I stewed for a while but while The Wifey was off to the grocery store (more on that later) I decided I wasn’t going to let a bunch of icy shit ruin my fun. I put the ‘cross wheelset back on my TCX and headed out into the great unknown. Immediately I realized riding in the snow is actually sorta fun. Not my ideal scenario but I rode over to the Fairview Township park approx ½ mile from my humble abode. I’m lucky when it comes to community parks. I have Fairview and Lower Allen both within 2½ miles from my front door. Fairview is cool. It would definitely make a great ‘cross venue. Lots of off camber, short steep hilly, long flat, paved bike path type stuff. I tinkered around and carved a ‘cross course throughout the park and did a few laps. Before I knew it an hour had gone by, I was smiling, and my feet were a little cold. So I went home. It was all I needed. Other than my feet being a bit chilly I was properly dressed considering it was 33 while I was out. I’ve been wearing my new Nike thermal bib tights lately. These things are nice. No worries so far in temps as low as 25. I got ‘em through Trek for $5. Yep, $5.

Having the right gear, both clothes and bike, make such a huge difference. Working at Holmes helps when it comes to having the right gear. I’d never be able to support my habit if not for the employee purchase or pro deal and the occasional blowout list. The EP is a wonderful thing. Usually figure that I pay approx half of retail on any given EP. The beauty is, given that I buy at such a great price, I can ride/use said goodie until my attention span tells me it’s time for something new. At which point I can sell and most often get back what I paid in order to pay for the new goodie. Almost as though once you make your initial investment you’re in the club.

Thursday I switched my light road bike stuff back from my TCX to the LeMond Tete. A Syntace stem, FSA carbon cranks, and Bonty Race X-Lites were the biggies. While I was at it I also installed a new Ritchey WCS carbon fork and stem on the TCX. The fork is lighter than the Alpha Q I took off and placed on my other TCX(The Wifey’s bike). I didn’t get a chance to weigh it but my main ‘cross sled in full race mode should be somewhere in the 17.5lb range. Pretty sweet. My Tete weighs 16lbs. Erin’s new bike, a Giant TCR carbon, weighs 17.5lbs. Nice ride for her. She likes to ride on the road. She put in 1000 miles this year on the spare TCX.

Back to Erin’s visit to the grocery store. First let me preface by saying this is in no way a complaint against my wonderful wife. She runs a tight ship and puts up with more than enough crap from her neurotic husband, your humble narrator. Today she nailed the grocery visit. 100% effort on her behalf. Every stupid little food neurosis I possess was satisfied. Diet Iced Tea, not the regular stuff-got it. Lite Cookies & Cream Ice cream, not the super fattening premium stuff-got it. Breyer’s Lite Raspberry Yogurt, not the full on high fat stuff-got it. Mangos, kiwis, green bananas-got it. Zero fat chips, the kind that’s supposed to make some people, not me, shit their brains out-got it. Wow, as I write this I realize two things. First, I AM neurotic. Two, all the pounds of fat I’ve shed over the past couple years from eating lowfat/no fat food probably isn’t any healthier than all the freakin’ chemicals I’ve digested from such lowfat/no fat food. Oh well, I like being skinny instead of fat so until I grow a second head or a sixth toe or something like that aspartame wins out over lard. Anyway, props to The Wifey. I love you E.

Last night we went to Herby’s for some Mexican grub. Best place in Harrisburg for mex, hands down. Not the easiest place to get to, but worth the drive. Not distance wide but it’s in a weird area of Steelton. Lots of rights and lefts. VisitPA Ray and his better half, Nancy, joined us for the chow down. Good stuff.

I finally bought a lapper. I got it from Best Buy. Toshiba. It’s a nice little rig. Now, as I type away this very instant, I’m in front of the 55’er watching some HD football, surfin, and bloggin. Is this what they call multi-tasking? Wednesday we’re getting set up with DSL so we can go wireless ‘net. I was paying $10 for dial-up. Verizon DSL is only $5 more. A no brainer. Nice. Out.