New beverage? (spoof)

(Disclaimer: Ok, this is kind of naughty...so if you are easily offended then DO NOT READ IT!)

Pfizer Announcement Pfizer Corp. announced today that Viagra will soon be available in liquid form, and will be marketed by Pepsi Cola as a power beverage suitable for use as a mixer. It will now be possible for a man to literally pour himself a stiff one. Obviously we can no longer call this a soft drink, and it gives new meaning to the names of 'cocktails', 'highballs' and just a good old-fashioned ' stiff drink'.

Pepsi will market the new concoction by the name of: MOUNT & DO.

Thought for the day: There is more money being spent on breast implants and Viagra today than on Alzheimer's research. This means that by 2040, there should be a large elderly population with perky boobs and huge erections and absolutely no recollection of what to do with them.

Quit monkey-ing around!

Enough "monkey" business! I need to get off my butt and decide about the MS150. I haven't really thought about it much even though it was a goal last week to have it decided upon. I just had other things that got in the way I guess. I promise the big announcement will be made on Monday with a YES or NO. I know you will be on the edge of your seats for that one!

From previous posting you already know we are hitting Bridge City this weekend. We decided on taking the bikes and do some riding out by the campground areas followed by a dip in the pool at the Clubhouse! Should be a nice weekend!

Sunday we will take the long trip back as we will swing down to Obert to pick the flowers off the graves and then head home.

Some of the FAB members are doing BIG training rides this weekend in preparation for upcoming BIG rides. They will be riding from Sioux Falls to Brookings and Mr Bite will ride on to Huron. Then the next day they will do it all in reverse.

STAY SAFE OUT THERE GUYS!

New bike seats.......

New designer animal bike seats!

Now, this is a new meaning to a dog sniffing your, a$$ or

riding BEAR butt or getting your goat or just plain insert your own joke!

Bike lane?...UGH!

Short weeks seem long!

Happy Hump Day everyone! I hate short weeks, they seem so long......some how.

We finalized the location of the tree donation to the Yankton Parks or Forestry division this week. We have to pick out a place for the pine tree at Memorial park yet. Now it is finding the time to be there when they plant the oak tree which has yet to be worked out.

Got stuff started for the FAB Newsletter. I am in charge of the member spotlight. I am also gathered all sorts of filler info for the cycle rag.

Got home for lunch today and Abe, the dog, decided to puke a couple times in the bathroom. That is always fun. Poor guy. He is fine now. I mowed the lawn over lunch. Kris buzzed home over lunch and had my lunch all ready for me to transport back to work when I was done mowing...THANKS!

Tonight is perm and haircut night...ugh....Oh, vanity!........hahaha.....then hooking up with Kris, Jay (Kris's brother-in-law) and Zach later.

Tomorrow night we are hitting Ribfest in Sioux Falls. Seems the BBQ is overpriced and lines can be long so might hit Buffalo Wild Wings first and then check out the old rockers, Loverboy. We had fun seeing Joan Jett last year at Ribfest. Of course we are to have storms tomorrow night which is typical for Ribfest. I know one year, we sat having supper and a big group of storm chasers went by. We pretty much thought it was time to go home at that point. Oh well, we are not far from home if bad weather hits!

Friday, we head to Yankton for the weekend. The main thing happening is the waxless candle and hymnal dedication at Vangen Lutheran Church in Mission Hill on Sunday, as a memorial to mom. We are taking the bikes to do a little riding and other than that we are relaxing on Saturday. We might hit the pool also if it EVER warms up! Who knows what else. There might be a trip to the Ice House, Ben's Brewing Company, Charlie's or Murdo's.....you just never know where we might show our mugs.

Commuting goal....this week SUCKS! I will try and meet the goal yet this week but I can't make any promises, unfortunately, it is not looking good!....I hang my head in shame : (

Memorial Day recap

Saturday was spend being lazy. No excuse for not doing anything...well, I guess I did have a bottle of beer at Monk's with some friends then over to their house for a great supper, but that was it!

Sunday we golfed 18 holes. My first full round of the year and I stunk it up! I had some good shots and some really bad shots the only good thing was we rode the cart and didn't walk. Although Dawn gave me a few tips which is always good in fact I almost chipped on in!

Monday was wild. Go up early and headed to Yankton. Grabbed flowers Joan and Rose left for me to take to mom's grave. Headed to Riverside Park to look at an area where they want to replace a weeping willow with an oak tree. We donated some money to Yankton Forestry Dept to plant two trees in mom and dad's names. We really wanted one at Riverside Park (along the river). My dad was the shipping manager at Gurney's (located down by Riverside Park) and mom loved Riverside in general so we thought having trees planted there would be great. Well, they told us a spot they wanted to plant the trees almost a year ago and we were not happy about the area. It was next to the sewer pond. I couldn't imagine how I would have had to explain that to mom and dad one day, "What the HELL, were you thinking planting those trees by the stinky sewer?", so we said no at that point. Now a place has opened up in Riverside Park that is an ideal place. It is right along the bike trail, in view of the river and the bridge and of course is approx. right on the other side of center field fence at the baseball diamond. The other tree we are either going to wait on or have it planted at another park, but I think this spot is great! Anyway I got the pics taken of the potential tree planting spot (emailed them to my sister later today) then headed to Obert for the Memorial Day service. What a great thing this cemetery does. They ask for the flags from the casket of every veteran that is buried there. On Memorial Day they have flagpoles they put up that line the driveway with all their flags (you can see some of the flags in the picture above). It is quite the site. The service was good. Catching up with relatives was fun also! Kenny (cousin) helped me fill in some snake holes around the headstone base...THANKS CUZ! I hit a couple other cemeteries to put flowers by family headstones and then headed home.

One thing that amazes me is that there is a guy buried in this cemetery that served in the War of 1812! To me it is odd. I guess I would have thought he would be buried out east someplace but not to be, he is in the Obert cemetery. His grave was never decorated except for the American flag but MaryAnn (cousin Kenny's wife) started decorating his grave a few years ago and now there are other flowers there also. I think that is cool!

All and all it was a good weekend. Of course tears were shed, as always when taps was played but I can not imagine it does not bring a tear to any ones eye........

New mode of rural transportation

Have you ordered your Cowasaki yet?

Backstreet worms

Memorial Day has lost it's meaning for some.....

Memorial Day has become such a different holiday for so many people. To some it is time off from the daily grind and to others it is time off to spend with friends / family, celebrating / camping and doing whatever, and yet for others it is also a day of work with no time off.

Let us not forget what Memorial Day really is about. It is a day that commemorates U.S. men and women who have died serving our nation.

Even though you may not agree with wars or conflicts our nation has been in and still involved in, we need to respect the service men and women that have paid to keep our nation free and memorializing them for their service!

Bike cockpit?

When are you going to buy yours? Safe to say my stimulious check (whenever it shows up) will not be going to buy this!

ROS recap

The Ride of Silence was really neat. We got all ready and about 10 min before departure, Kris got paged and had to go to the big green house on the hill to help out a patient. I asked her how much she had to pay to get someone to pager her at that specific time, all in fun!

Anyway, I think they said there were 37 riders. A few of the FAB members (Cycle SD and Hooterville Mayor) were interviewed by KDLT and did a great job. We tok off and I forgot to take my cell phone off ring so the muppet show song was playing as we took off....very nice and embarrassing! The next thing is that I SUCKED WIND BAD! It is pretty much up hill out of downtown and I have not near the amount of miles / time on the bike as most of the other riders. I of course am carrying more weight then some also from the years of carbo loading, but that is getting better. Down 22 pounds (official weigh in this morning) since last summer. I could not imagine how bad it would have been riding that last night with that much more weight. Anyway made it to 21st street and the Kernel was waiting for me. He asked it I wanted to cut over to Minn Ave at that point and I said sure. The uphill was pretty much done but there was no way I would have caught the group I am guessing. THANKS KERNEL! He buzzed over and took pics of the ROS peleton cresting the hill on Minn Ave. I chugged out with the group on to Minn Ave at 21st and rode with the pack the rest of the way.

I waited for Kris to come back to Fawick park and we loaded up my bike then headed to Monk's after calling a couple friends, who had been out golfing. Had a great beer last night after asking for two other beers they were out of. Anyway it was a Rogue Shakespeare Stout. Very nice.

So all in all it was a great night even if I didn't make it the whole distance (uphills kill me!) but hey at least I was out there and supporting a good cause!

Carbo loading or not!

To carbo load or not to carbo load for the ride tonight, that is the question. The Ride of Silence is a 3.4 miles for this over weight, have not been training all that much, biker. I figure I will need all the fuel I can get! I guess some folks would say, by looking at me, that I have been carbo loading for YEARS and YEARS for this ride and a lot of other rides in the future. I will need all the help I can get and maybe something that will give me a little get up and go (gas) might do the trick, but I pity the poor fool riding behind me, no wait this might work to my advantage as there should not be anyone behind me (slow go Mo here!) until I kick in the so called "after burners" then LOOK OUT, I might be leaving everyone in a fog, green fog that is! I might even beat everyone back to Fawick!....haha....OOPS forgot this is a SILENT RIDE so this will not work!

We should be fine riding. Kris has not ridden much at all and so we will hang together and go our pace, so no big deal. I have read that it is to go no faster than 12mph so that is good news, kind of! Ok, well I better get back to my second plate of spaghetti....haha...see you tonight!

Ride of Silence

Tonight is the Ride of Silence across the world. I just looked on the website and at that point there were only 288 confirmed rides in the WORLD! One ride will be taking place right here in Sioux Falls, SD, the only confirmed ride in South Dakota!

What is the Ride of Silence?
It is a bike ride to honor those that have been killed or injured riding on public streets.

What does it do for our community?
It raises awareness that we are here and asking to share the road.

Meet at Fawick park this evening. Ride begins at 7:00pm! Distance is 3.4 miles.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ride of Silence...
Tonight we number many but ride as one
In honor of those not with us, friends, mothers, fathers, sisters, sons
With helmets on tight and heads down low,
We ride in silence, cautious and slow
The wheels start spinning in the lead pack
But tonight we ride and no one attacks
The dark sunglasses cover our tears
Remembering those we held so dear
Tonight's ride is to make others aware
The road is there for all to share
To those not with us or by our side,
May God be your partner on your final ride
- Mugai

DAMN CANCER

I just learned that one of my aunts (mom's sister) has lung cancer. She is my aunt Goobie. Her name is really Ruthie but when I was little I could not say Ruthie so she has always been aunt Goobie to me. The spot on her lung is small and I hope they caught it in time. She has battled, I think thyroid cancer before also. She is a VERY STRONG LADY and I know she will get through this! The list is getting long of the people I think of when I look at my Livestrong bracelet everyday.

When are we EVER going to find a cure for this ROTTEN disease? Imagine what cures might have happened if all that money we are spending on a war, that no one will EVER win, had been put to use for cancer research.....just imagine!

We are all praying for you aunt Goobie! I know you are a fighter.....LIVESTRONG!

Weekend recap - Cows and Kittens

Good weekend! Headed to Yankton after Kris got off work. Good drive to Yankton chatting about Bike to Work Day. Made it in time to pick up the pool key for the clubhouse. Then headed to Charlies. Sat at the bar with a couple of regulars and ordered the Three Stoogies (cheese burger pizza) and the Jame Dean (chicken, garlic, tomato pizza) They were really good and of course a pitcher of red beer helped it go down easier!

Saturday morning got up and hit Gundy's farmers market as we had heard he picked about 75lbs of asparagus. Along with the ass-per-gas, we picked up some steaks. Rose (friend) and Joan (godmother) came over and we grilled out. Luther (godfather) was still out in the field planting corn. We grilled steaks, had twice baked potatoes, coleslaw, bread, then I made the ass-per-gas a couple different ways. In one packet I just had asparagus and butter. In another packet I had asparagus, jalapeno bacon, minced garlic, butter then I added asiago cheese to it right before serving. YUM-O! It was really GOOD! We had shrimp with garlic, butter and another batch with seafood sesoning and butter all on the grill also. There was also desert after all that...apple pie and ice cream.

Sunday got up and did some cleaning then loaded up and headed to the cemetery in Obert. Cleaned up the mom and dad's headstone along with grandma, grandpas and uncle Franklin. Trimmed the grass up around them also. Then headed east from the cemetery. We drove over the hill and there were COWS EVERYWHERE! I stopped that the next farm place to let them know about the cows but no one was home so we headed to Maskell and then over the bridge on the Missouri. There was something not right on the north side of the bridge. A bunch of cars plus a sheriffs car and a police motorcycle. Then headed up the road a bit further and met an ambulance. Got on the other side of Vermillion and met the GF&P vehicle with lights going pulling a boat. We could only think of one thing and that was I wonder if some one had drown in the river. We stopped at the Coffee Cup for cheap gas $3.59/gallon and hit the interstate then met another GF&P truck flying down the indy with lights going. I have not heard if our suspicions are true yet but it didn't look good.

Went to Coco-Palace for sushi with some friends then out to the farm to meet up with some of Kris's family. Found a litter of kittens that were cold and crying at the base of a lilac tree so we got a box with some towels in it and placed the kittens in there to keep them warm. I am guessing the mother will move them once she smells our scent but we could not leave them just stuck in the bush on the cold twiggy ground.

My goal this week is to decide if I want to do the MS150. I need to either, as my mom would say, shit or get off the pot on this! I am leaning to yes but I need to look at all things before I commit to it.

This week will of course be busy again at work. Wednesday is the ride of silence that we plan on riding in (I am skipping golf night but leagues does not start until next week) then might hit Monks after the ride for some libations before heading home. Oh yes, and there is meeting with the FAB newsletter group to look at content options for the first FAB newsletter!

BUSY WEEK!

Bike to Work Day!

We had a great turn out for the Sioux Falls Bike to Work Day today. I have not heard official results but someplace around 200 bikers enjoyed "catching their" breakfast from Chris Cakes flipping pancakes this morning. The picture above shows a couple rows of bikes but keep in mind that there were two other filled hanging racks like pictured and also bikes all over the place. I think it was the most busy around 6:45am-7:30am. All sorts of different bikes, all sorts of different people and all dressed differently. Some had the full bike garb on while others came in more sporting type wear and others came in dress pants, shirts and ties. There were road bikes, recumbent, comfort bikes, tandem with trail behind add-on, mountain bikes basically you name it and it was there. There was even a couple that brought along their dogs, of course the dogs did not eat any pancakes. Oh, I forgot that I am now legal to ride the bus and take my bike along. I took the test for the bike and bus permit and passed....not that there is a test. They show you how the bike rack works then make you put your bike in the rack on the front of the bus. A tiny bit of paperwork later and you have a permit. Pretty cool deal.

Met a few new people during the event that ended around 9:00am. Minus Car's Dad was even there. He called me Betty! Well, I am not a Betty and told him my name and he said, "You're Tez" and of course I said, "yes". He told me he reads my blog, so I thought I better give him some kudos! I have heard he has put on a lot of miles on his bike already this year. Went on a little ride down Phillips to 19th to 7th ave then along the south side of Avera to Cliff. I was sucking wind on the uphill on Phillips but the group (Minus Car, Cycle SD, Hooterville Mayor and Jody) were kind to hang with me. We hit Cliff Ave and I needed to head back home to meet up with Rose at Spezia for lunch (great seeing Rose and had a great lunch!). I was not expecting to go on a ride after breakfast so didn't have the ol'bike shorts or shoes along Oh well, it was fun!

Headed out to pick up tomato plans and misc. other plantings. Got them all in their happy pile of dirt so they can not grow like wild. Was going to fertilize but now it is windy so it will have to wait a few more days.

I better get packing for Yankton.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Visit Hooterville Mayors blog to see more pics from today!

The Onion: Human Head Found In Hamburger

I have heard burgers at Bob's are as big as your head! Have fun on the B2B ride!

Ice cream the next gas?

I saw a sign, at lunch time, at one of the local ice cream joints in Sioux Falls, we will call them Barney & Gomers.

"Don't you wish your car ran on ice cream?"

My answer NO!

Gas is expensive enough at $3.65 / gallon. I figure a medium cone at the ice cream joint is approx 12 oz and approx $2.50 for said amount. So, approx. 21 cents per ounce. Given that, there are 128 ounces in a gallon that comes out to $26.88 / gallon! I guess the only thing good is that we would not be stick relying on other countries for oil, if our cars ran on ice cream. I am pretty sure that the middle east does not harbor any HUGE ice cream factories but then again it could be hidden in the same place as those weapons of mass destruction.

Golf, biking and the weekend

Well, golfing was a blast last night but my game SUCKED! Oh well - I didn't break a club! I had a couple nice drives but my chipping and putting was not good. I shot worse then I did the first round this year. The company was good though. We always have something to laugh at or about! Great night weather wise with no wind but in about a week I am guessing we will want a little breeze as I think the bugs are going to be bad!

The drive home I saw 19 wild turkeys. They were out in a plowed field pecking around. One big Tom had his tail all fanned out. I love seeing that stuff!

Got home and Kris was ready for her bike ride around the neighborhood. It was a nice little outing. I am guessing 3-4 miles. So I think I logged about 8 miles on the bike (not very great) and the pedometer stated 3.88 miles walking.

I have tomorrow off and am going to help with the bike to work breakfast from 6a-9a. A friend from Yankton is coming up so I will have lunch with her. I might hit the bike trail tomorrow for a bit. I also need to get some things planted. We do some container planting of tomatoes so would like to get them started and I also bought some other seeds, carrots and radishes which I am sure I am behind on planting but thought it would be fun to try. Might plant some over by our rhubarb plant. I also need to have the truck all packed up for our trip to Yankton. We will be hitting Charlies Friday night for pizza and I am guessing grilling something Saturday night. Looks like it should be a nice weekend!

Cool ride

It was a bit of a cool ride this morning. I had cold finger tips and ears by the time I got to work. The ride home for lunch was good and not near as cool.

Met more of the FAB members last night at the board meeting. I am now part of a sub-committee to try and come up with a FAB newsletter by the end of June (the goal). Should be fun and I think we have some good ideas. It can only grow from here on out!

Tonight is golf night in Brandon. It should be a very nice night weather wise. I hope I do not break a club like last week. After golf, Kris wants to do some urban riding in our neighborhood. I need to get my bike computer recalibrated (battery died over the winter) so I can track my mileage a bit better. I also need to check the air in Kris's tires...there is a story here that I will tell sometime on another entry!

Meetings.....

The City Council meeting was interesting. I had never been to one before. The room was packed and people were standing. The "bikers" were sitting in one area. We were there in support of a State Senator Sandy Jerstad. She was there to talk about a few things but mainly she talked about making Sioux Falls a bike friendly city by making it safer for bikers and also maintenance of the bike trail. I found it interesting that the Mayor (not Hooterville Mayor) didn't really make eye contact with her while she was speaking. When she was done the mayor had a park and recreation guy speak about the plan to repair the bike trail but most of it is in CIP (capital improvements plan) for the next few years. Anyway, I was home by 7:30pm. The meeting started at 7:00pm. We left after Senator Jerstad spoke, not sure how long the entire meeting lasted but I was worried that it was going to be a long night so being done that early was great!

I did get to meet a few of the bike bloggers while there, thE kErnEL, DirkBikes, Dr Dope, Hooterville Mayor (kind enough to help me get the names right-THANKS!), and Cycle SD. Snakebite and a other guy were there also but I didn't really meet them. Some headed to Monks for libations and I headed home. It was good to finally meet some of you guys! I am sure I will meet more FAB members tonight at the meeting.

The ride home from the Carnegie Town Hall was great. The wind had died down. It was a very nice evening to be out doing some pedaling!

Mowing, weekend recap and busy week ahead.....

Over lunch today I thought I better get the lawn mowed. I pulled the mower out of the garage and filled it will liquid gold (gas). I went to take the bag off and guess what I found? I found that the last time I used the mower I never emptied the bagger!...DAMN! I have no idea how that happened. I was not very happy at all. I took the bag off and mowed the front yard then headed to the backyard. It was slow going. Should have been baled or had a herd animals(insert animals of your choice) grazing back there. The grass was a bit wet from our rain on Saturday plus the grass was taller in the backyard. I got it all done but an area about six foot by eight foot. I will finish that tonight as I have to elevate the mower deck and mow it a couple times lowering the deck each time. No big deal. Bummed about the bagger though. I have to dig out all the compacted / moldy leaves....UGH!

The weekend was good. Had Saturday morning vittles with friends. We had to find a new place to gather since Boomers closed. We decided on Tinner's. Food was good. Did some errands for Kris's mom and then out to the farm to drop off errand pick-ups. Headed back in to town and to the grocery store. Hit the sack early. Sunday it was fixing kabobs for lunch. Kris's mom (Joan)came in for a mothers day feast and Zach, Kris's nephew, joined us also. Joan had watched the first 4 episodes of John Adams in Pierre last weekend so we sat and watched the last three episodes. It is an amazing story of a founding father in our history! Joan took off and Kris and I got caught up with an episode of a show we watch, Bones. We did it on the computer. Pretty cool but still has a few commercials that you deal with but not bad. This morning came early like every Monday morning does!

Oh ya, Abe needs to loose some weight! Only five pounds. The vet said he lost his waistline! So for treats he is getting carrots now! I brought a bunch to work but now have found that I ate most of them. Oh well...........at least they are not bad for either one of us!

Tonight is finish the mowing, hit the Carnegie Town Hall meeting at 7:00 with the FAB bike club. There will be talk from a state senator about cyclist rights. If you can make it, head on over on your bike.

Tomorrow is a FAB meeting and since I volunteered to help with the newsletter I am to attend.
Wednesday is golf night, Thursday is open yet and Friday morning is bike to work day which I am helping with - what yet I do not know, but in some capacity, and then Friday heading out to the Clubhouse. Another busy week to be followed by some relaxation!

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day, what does it mean?
To me it means it is a day we devote to our moms for having us, for taking care of us, for teaching us, for loving us, for teaching us right from wrong, for showing us how to care and for showing us how to laugh. Of course there are the other ones, cleaning our faces with spit on a hanky during church, for buying us clothes to big thinking we would grow into them when instead we would wear them out before they fit us, making sure you had clean underwear on, don't go to sleep with your socks on, your feet will rot...there are so many more!

My mom loved to laugh. She had a great laugh in fact. I can still see her throwing back her head laughing with that kind of high pitched laugh. It was an infectious kind of laugh.

My mom cared and loved us so much. When she was in the hospital, I had stayed with her in the room a few nights. It was the middle of the night and she was restless. I got up and sat next to the bed and we talked. Then she broke out in a song and tapped me on the tip of my nose as she sang it, "I love you, a bushel and a peck, a bushel and peck and a hug around the neck" I had never heard her sing that song before. It is one I will never forget. It just shows the love a mother has for her child. Mom was dying but found it in her heart to sing to me and comfort me.

I sure do miss mom. She died November 22, 2006. Sometimes it seems like yesterday and other times it seems so long ago. I know in my heart she is always here but I am also glad she gets to spend Mother's Day with her mom. One day we will be together again, until then....Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Go By Bike (GBB)

Next week May 12-16 is bike to work week. Get out there and do your part.

Trek Bikes says it best, go by bike:

• For your health
• For the world
• For our future
• For trips of 2 miles or less

If you can't ride all week at least try and ride Friday, May 16. It is bike to work day in Sioux Falls. Head on downtown to the Museum of Visual Materials, 500 N. Main, and have FREE pancakes for breakfast from 6:00am-9:00am! There will be indoor seating!

Mellow Johnny's

Check out this article about Lance Armstrong's new bike shop here.

Stress Relief

Hey, I met my commuting goal this week of course it took me three days to commute my two days. Does that make sense? I rode to and from work Monday. Tuesday I rode to work but being that I am made of sugar (see April 21st post) I didn't want to bike in the rain on the way home so I called the sag wagon. Kris picked me up and I left the Ol'Fisher at work locked to my drafting table in my cubicle. So, today I drove to work and then at lunch time rode my bike home, had lunch and then had Kris take me back to work. It worked but is kind of odd don't you think? Oh, well, I met the goal!

I had to drive today because it is golf day for me. We headed to Brandon to hit that darn white ball around. Hole number 1, after my bad tee shot I was getting ready to take my second shot in the rough. I swung the club and touched some branches on my back swing then tried to hit the ball. I swung through it and hit the little tree, not really even that hard but I hit the tree and broke my first club! It totally wrapped around the tree! Sorry Gabe! (I have hand me down irons from Kris's nephew, Gabe) I am sure Gabe had used them numerous times and so the shaft was weak from him hitting whatever object out of frustration...ya, that is a good story...so, it didn't take much for the old shaft to twist in half! I like that story and think it could be plausible! I had not even used this iron before, I don't think. It was the 4 iron. Anyway, I will have to have it fixed. I shot three strokes better than the last time out so that is good. My drives were pretty good and felt good also, much better than last week. It was a great evening, well besides the club breakage!

I have noticed, when I bike to work that once there, I am more focused and able to deal with situations a bit better. I think biking clears your mind and releases all sorts of stress that has built up. I guess for some breaking a golf club does the same thing, but I found myself kind of laughing about my broken club. What does that say about me?

Oh, ya, other news, weight lost this morning was 21.8 pounds since last summer.

Ol'Fisher

Here is the old Fisher HK-II (HooKoo-II) in my office cubical today awaiting it's ride home and hopefully not in the rain!

I had a much better commute to work this morning. I was at work by 7:00am so less traffic. The traffic light was not a problem today, not sure why. I cruised up to the light and watched to see if any car was coming up behind me to trigger the light. I didn't see any cars so I was ready to run the red light, yes, you heard me, I admit it, I was going to break the law. Just as I was watching the traffic to make my law breaking ride through the intersection the traffic slowed down and the light turned green! It was like I was Moses and the sea parted for me! I must be living right!

Astana gets invite!

Astana gets invite to the Giro d'Italia! This is amazing although it is what a lot of people where talking about. A wait and see period for them. If they stay clean and do well there might be other invites? Who knows but at least they get to ride in the Giro. I found it interesting that they have co-captains on the Astana team. Andreas Kloden and Alberto Contador are co-captains. What happened to Levi? I see Levi will wear #21 for the Astana Team in the Giro and I am pretty sure that the 1 of the 21 means he is the leader. Very interesting.

Good weekend

The weather was great on Sunday. Went out for brunch at Bracco. Did some grocery shopping then home. Took some garbage out and ended up talking with the neighbor for an hour. Her brother died this past week and today is his funeral. She just needed to talk. The neighbors were at their second home in AZ when her brother died and then of course they came home but got stuck in the blizzard in Rapid. UGH. Anyway that kind of blew our timeline for biking. I did get the snow blower moved to the back of the garage so if it snows now, you can blame me! I also wanted to get the hitch mounted bike rack on the Bravada. I tried and tried to get the padlock off that holds the hitch cover on but to no avail. I will try again tonight otherwise the lock will need to be cut off.

Grilled out some pork loins (some lemon garlic and some apple bourbon)last night along with new potatoes with garlic and rosemary and asparagus. It was pretty darn good. It was topped off by frozen yogurt and Michigan blueberries! The bad part of the night....CUBS LOST.

Rode to work this morning. It was a good ride except the darn traffic lights at Russell and Prairie. I was first in line to cross at the intersection but of course the sensor did not pick up the bike so I stood there and stood there. Finally a car came up behind and triggered it. There was quite the line of cars behind me. I am guessing they were not all that happy but what was I to do? I hate that corner. It is a real dangerous area. I have been very close to crashing numerous times in my SUV there mainly from people running the light or turning in front of you as you cross Russell.

Meeting up with Kris for lunch at a park near by should be good! This is her last week home before she heads back to work on the 12. She has been doing a lot of reading and is healing very well. I think maybe a short bike ride around the neighborhood might be good tonight. We will see!

The sun is shining!

Morning Y'all! (yes, I live in southern South Dakota, hence the Y'all) THE SUN IS SHINING! The wind is still blowing but hey, we have SUN! I think it is going to be a great weekend!

Today is filled with cleaning up the house a bit, laundry and picking up Kris from the airport. I am guessing we will hit the town tonight for some food and libations someplace. I have not a clue where yet but it should be a good time.

Sunday we will try and get caught up with our shows taped from last week. We have a few to get through and might have to try and watch a couple on line since we didn't get them taped. I am also thinking of going for a bit of a pedal on the Sioux Falls greenway. Just a little biking around not huge miles. I think it would be good to get out a bit and enjoy the sunshine when we have it. I do have yard work (raking, fertilize, mow) to do also but that might have to wait for the week night.

Well, I better get at it. Abe is laying on his observation deck -the O.D., platform by the window so he can look out in the backyard. He has fallen asleep and is snoring. It is so darn funny!

Have a great weekend everyone!

French Learning English

Healing thoughts!

As a blogger you read all sorts of other blogs and become a friend to people you have never met and might not ever meet.

I have been reading Fatty's bike blog the last few months. He is an avid cyclist with a wife and 4 kids. His wife is battling cancer. His blog entry from yesterday made my heart sink and I don't even know this family. It really tugs at the heart strings. I guess maybe because I know what it feels like to see the effects of cancer, like most of us out there, and how it can be a roller coaster ride but you have to remain positive no matter what God throws at you.

If you get a chance today give thanks for your good health and family but also pray for positive healing thoughts to people struggle with the terrible disease.

Seven Bags?

Boy, I am up early this morning! Had to take Kris to the airport by 5:45am. The airport was a buzzin' with travelers. Saw a very funny thing that United is doing, well not funny but as of May 5 (I think) they will start charging for extra bags. They have the prices all listed out for each additional bag but get this, they have a price for 7 BAGS! YES, 7 BAGS! It was $200 extra for those 7 BAGS! I guess traveling with a group of some of my friends, I might be technically travel with 7 "BAGS" and hell if that is the case that would be a pretty cheap flight for them...hahaha...sorry guys! Ok, not sure about you but I can not even think about traveling with 7 BAGS! Keep in mind that those 7 BAGS are per person! What about trying to keep track of said 7 BAGS? That is WAY excessive and let me tell you if you need to travel with 7 BAGS you are VERY HIGH MAINTENANCE! ...enough said.

Last night I golfed 9 holes in Brandon. IT WAS VERY WINDY! Kris walked with us as she is NOT a golfer. I had a couple good shots but have a lot of rust. I have not golfed since August of last year. I did manage one par. I also had one interesting thing happen. As I was preparing to hit a shot, the lady that was golfing with us, honked her horn on her golf cart. Of course I chunked the ball just beautifully, walked about 6 feet and then hit an ok shot. Pretty funny. We had a good time. I was pretty stuffed up when we left there. I got home and soaked in the tub with some cold sinus bath additive stuff and then some Zicam. I was better once I got to bed. I have to report I am a little sore today from golf but not bad at all usually with me it is the second day that is a killer as far as soreness...can't wait for tomorrow to get here!...haha

On the way home we stopped at the Coffee Cup in Brandon. I had won a $20 gift card from there at the golf banquet last fall. I thought what a great thing to use it for was gas. I got the Sidekick all filled up and still had to pay $8.50 and no the tank was not empty. The gas was $3.45 / gallon out there....UGH!

Typical South Dakota weather this week. Yesterday it was shorts weather and by late tonight or tomorrow we have a chance of snow again. You know what is going to happen don't you? We are going to go from this crappy roller coaster weather right to HOT and totally skip spring. Mother Nature is making me very CRABBY!