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.

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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!

Tuesday ramblings

Here it is Tuesday and not much going except I am SWAMPED at work AGAIN! This recession is doing our construction industry some good I guess! I have 13 jobs to bid already for the month of May and that is a bit ODD! No, I am not complaining, just one of those things that make you go, hhmmmmm.

I have picked up another bug or allergy or something dang it. Got a stuffy nose and am tired. Back on decongestants for a bit and Zicam. Had a headache Saturday, scratch throat Sunday and now stuffy nose yesterday and today. I just went through the office again and cleaned areas that are the "common area" with antibacterial spray / cleaner. Will have to do this at least once a day to get the bugs out of the office.

Kris is heading to Phoenix for a one day course (Friday). She is leaving Thursday and coming back Saturday. I hope she does ok as this is a pretty big trip after her surgery. She has been doing really well and we do not anticipate any issue but she is packing smart in case. Abe (the dog) has been at home taking care of her. Not sure what kind of care he is giving. He pretty much sleeps and snores during the day. Wrigley the parakeet has been up early it seems and chirping away. Last night when I got home he was pretty noisy. Not sure what was up with that but it is funny.

I didn't meet my goal commuting last week and will not again this week, I fear. DANG IT. Might have to get out for a ride this weekend if we have good weather. Sure would be nice to have a nice week without snow in the forecast.

FAB was looking for people to help with a possible newsletter for the club and I threw my name in the hat along with it looks like two other people. Not sure how much I can bring to the table but I will try and help as much as I can. It should be fun and if anything a learning experience.

I better get back at it what it is God only knows, I think I just need to pick a pile and go through it until I meet the desk!

Weekend half recap and no biking kickoff

Had a great time last night. Headed to TOE (Touch of Europe) with Kris, her brother-in-law Jay and nephew Zach. Good food. Then it was off to Monk's for liquid desert. Couple of friends met us there to join in on the libations. MAN WERE THEY GOOD. The Young's double chocolate stout ROCKS! It was VERY GOOD! I had the Nogne (sp?) brown ale from Norway first and then had the Young's. If you like stout and stout with chocolate flavor Young's double chocolate is the ticket.

The weather was crappy Friday night and given the snow we had and the coooooooolness the FAB spring kick off was postponed for today (Saturday). We were a bit bummed but will be ready another day, hopefully we will not have a prior commitment on whichever day is chosen.

Today was spent doing a few shopping things and then meandering around Barnes and Noble after a raspberry creme soda...YUMMY! I ended up with a nasty headache so we headed home and vegged in the basement by watching episode #6 of the John Adams series. Let me say if you have HBO on demand and have not seen the John Adams series you need to! Then it was off to McNally's for supper a couple Guinness and a shot of Killbaggen Irish Whiskey. It was good. The shot was a bit sweet which was surprising and did not burn on the way down which is always good!

Not sure what tomorrow holds. I think supper across town with some friends but other than that maybe some cleaning and some work stuff.

Hi, Gene!

Ok, so big dilemma. There is the big FAB Spring Kickoff ride tomorrow and given the weather conditions (crappy, cold, wet and windy) I am thinking about not going sleek legged in order to stay warmer. My only worry is there goes the aerodynamicness of my svelte self right out the window or maybe it would be the added weight from thine leg hairs that would give me the biggest problem...whatever the fact...I am not sure what to do! It is kind of like having to go to the bathroom when you are playing softball. If you have to go bad, it makes you run the bases faster....but the flip side is that it can also weigh you down.

Keep in mind my leg hairs are FAR from getting caught in the chain length, so I might opt for not shaving and go all natural but then again I will be meeting new people for the first time and do I really want my leg hairs hanging out the bottom of my pants? Oh sure, I could always tuck them in my socks and no one would know...unless they read this blog!...oops

I think I will let the weather tomorrow dictate the shaving or not but right now I think I need to go clip my toenails so my bike shoes fit!

Remember - Bike to Work Day

Don't forget to join in on FREE pancakes during the Bike to Work Day...read about it HERE.

Tired.......

Here it is Wednesday evening and I am TIRED. Sunday night we got home late, Monday night up late, Tuesday night took Kris to Vermillion to teach a physical therapy class at USD from 6-9pm got home at 10:00pm. Actually had a glimpse of Biking Brady riding his grocery getter while I was killing time in Vermillion. He was going to church and then to the grocery store. Had supper with Kris's nephew at Granite City for his 22nd birthday. It was fun. Ate toooooo much. Had their stout beer which was pretty good. Now we are home and Abe (the dog) is sleeping in the hallway and SNORING! It is pretty funny. Poor guy! He just can not seem to get with his regular nap schedule with us going at different hours of the day and I think I am in the same boat as the furry one.

Kris had some good news today. She is doing well after her surgery according the doctor. He has lifted restrictions off of her but until she heals she can not go back to work as it would not be good lifting patients at this point. The doctor has her off work another three weeks.

We are excited about the FAB spring kickoff ride on Saturday. It should be a good time. We have been talking a lot about it tonight. I am afraid I will not make my commuting goal this week. Today I just had to much stuff going on that it just would not work and the rest of the week looks crappy...remember I am made of sugar!..Plus I need to save my energy for Saturday. Kris has already started carbo loading for the ride!

Made of Sugar

Didn't ride to work today as I thought it was going to rain. Yes, I know that there are clothes that protect you from the elements but when you are made of sugar you have to be VERY careful! One drop of rain and body parts could fall off...maybe that is a good thing but I am sure not good for traffic. I can hear the nightly report....

"This just in....
Seems there was a car accident on Russell street today. It is unclear what happened but it was reported that someones fat ass or thunder thighs were in the middle of the road causing cars to go out of control when the drivers tried to avoid the body parts. Early reports coming in state that the body parts were from a women riding in the rain. The only conclusion is that she was made of sugar".

I hope to get my two days in this week and then Saturday hit the Spring Kick-Off with some friends for a little pedal around the bike trail. Not sure how far we will make it but hey, we will be out there. Kris is going to try a bit also not sure how well that will go but again at least she will be out there.

Cubs, Work, German Food

Had a great weekend and lot was accomplished. Got to Yankton on Friday night and hit Charlie's...Pizza was excellent as usual along with sharing a pitcher of beer with tomato juice....got to get those veggies in! Saturday morning up early and made breakfast then hit the patio. Swept it then disinfected it and then got the patio furniture out and ready for the season. Washed the outside windows that face the patio. Raked the front yard all of this while listening to the CUBS KICK BUTT and sipping on Old Style beer in honor of the butt kicking. Wiped out the bottom of the beer fridge, headed to the neighbors for a lesson on Guitar Hero (Wii) then back to shower and off to the Godparents for a GERMAN fest. WOW.. we had some great food! They had cooked up some homemade sausage from their son, Rose brought over another kind of sausage, we had homemade sauerkraut, and homemade kniffel (Sp?) kind of a dumpling boiled then dried off then fried in butter...OH MY, then desert was homemade cream puffs with real whipped cream. We sat and tried to solve the problems of the world and got home at 1:10am! Got up this morning and hit Minerva's for brunch. Headed to Obert to the cemetery to put spring flowers on my parents graves and then home....but not for long! Dropped the dogs off then off to Brookings we headed to met up with Kris's sister for supper. All I can say is enough road miles for a bit. Gas was CHEAP at the Coffee Cup at the Vermillion exit like usual. We paid $3.35 in Sioux Falls and it was $3.25 at the Coffee Cup. Given the windy conditions we sucked down the gas on the way to Obert and the way home from Brookings. Even though we use more gas with the Bravada it would have been like driving a toaster cover down the road if we would have taken the Suzuki Sidekick. That was the weekend recap. Now on to the busy week ahead.....

Oh ya, regarding all that work I did this past weekend....I can not be bought!...and of course I am not looking forward to hopping on the scale in the morning!

Important How-To........

Lucky and Blessed

Well, I am sitting here after I got the home computer hooked up. It is 11:00pm-ish and I am listening to Pandora the free online radio. Josh Groban song is playing and boy, have I mellowed out!

All I can think about is how lucky I am to have such a good life. Sure I have lost both of my parents and I am only 43 but somehow I feel they have left me with great tools to make the most out of my life. I learned love and most of all respect. I have surrounded myself with great friends and friends that are family not just friends. My health is good but of course like many Americans I am overweight but, I am working on that. What more can a person want really? Not sure what that would be except a cold beer and the remote...haha ...(I was getting to serious there for a moment!) No really what more can a person need?

When you go to bed at night think about how lucky you are, no, really, just think about it. Think about how bad it could be, think about how others struggle, think about how people rebound from tragedy, think about what gets you through the hard times, think about what drives you, take a good look at yourself and I am pretty sure you will find that you are lucky also. I know there are ups and downs...hey, that is life. That is what the journey is, but what is the destination? I guess only a few know this and they have a much clearer vision than most or is it they have had such a great loss that drives them to their destination? Not sure, all I know is that I am truly blessed and thankful for what and who I have in my life, what I have learned, what I will learn but most of all I will always cherish what I have lost and will continue to journey down the path to my destination............

Plans........

Weekend plans already coming together. Heading to the clubhouse this weekend for a little relaxing. Of course Friday night will be spent at Charlie's for pizza supper. Saturday going to clean up the patio with disinfectant (neighbor cats like to spray out there-UGH) and get the patio furniture out and ready for the summer! Saturday afternoon and night not sure what is going on but I do know at some point we will hook up with friends and I am guessing a little libations maybe at Ben's. Sunday hitting the road to Obert to the cemetery to take the Christmas wreaths off and put spring flowers on the family graves. Sunday night it will be spent watching the Tudors on Showtime and also getting caught up with the John Adams mini-series on HBO.

Next week there will be biking (to work and bike trail) and next weekend is the FAB-Spring Kickoff. We will be riding one of the rides...not sure which one yet but should be fun! I got some friends talked into biking also so it should be a fun time. The work load next week looks nasty but I might try and get some done during some free time this weekend. Kris also has a doctors appointment Wednesday which I am going to just in case they poke around a bit and she gets light headed.

At some point the new computer will need to get up and running. Might try doing some of that tonight. We will see......

Good Job

Adventure Cycling - Bike and Bits had a little chat about the great bike riding in SD with the Lewis and Clark Trail, mountain, road and rails-trails cycling and if these people (South Dakota Bicycle Coalition) have anything to say about it, it will only get much better. Then they had a link to the Black Hills News Bureau story about the SD Bicycle Coalition. GOOD JOB - SDBC, You are making people and organizations notice! (In case you have not read the Black Hill News Bureau story from August, you can read it here)

Take the Cliff Bar Challenge

See what the challenge is here.

I met my goal!

I drove this morning to work because the new computer was to be delivered...and it was! YEAH! Anyway drove it back home and hopped on the bike for the return to work. Of course heading north on Prairie I was going right into the wind! The only good news is that it is down hill most of the way so I can handle that. I guess this is kind of day two of commuting this week and thus I have met my GOAL kind of! I still need to mess with the derailleur. It works great in the middle or big chainring on the front but when I go to the little one it wants to shift me into a different gear.....any suggestions?

I think I will reward myself by eating pancakes tonight after work at the Lyons Pancake feed!

Commute home

The commute home last night was not as fun but I am not discouraged, I just need to tweak a few things to make it better. First off I need to get my derailleur adjusted. I had no issues on the way to work but I was in the big chain ring in the front but on the way home I shifted down to the small front chainring and .....ooooopppps....there went the chain right off the chainring so a few greasy fingers later I got it back on the ring but when I was in that chainring it kept thinking I should be in another gear and shifting for me. I got frustrated going up a hill into the wind so I walked a block to the house. Oh well. If that is as bad as it gets no big deal. The other thing is that I have a messenger bag that I use as a brief case and that was not fun to have on as it kept shifting to my right as I rode. I am pretty much done with that I think and will try and pair down to using just my trunk. So all in all it was an education and a good one.

I didn't ride today as the wind is REALLY bad (not really a good excuse) but the other is I had to take Kris to a doctors appointment south of town so in order to save time and until I get my stuff a bit more organized and my bike adjusted I drove today.

Computer update

It seems that Dell continues to LIE!...Those BASTARDS...it also seems that this is my favorite new word, BASTARD.....anyway. If you have read previous post, Dell had told us that our computer was to ship 4-2 then it was delayed to 4-9 then it was delayed until 4-16. I get to work this morning and it shipped 4-11! THOSE BASTARDS! Anyway it should be here on Wednesday at the latest so we can be hooked up to the internet once more at home. I guess technically we still are hooked up at home but our laptop is VERY SLOW so we upgraded to the desktop with all sorts of extras. Since the roomie works at Avera we got about a $500 break on it which is sweet so we got the 22" wide screen with the TV tuner. We do not have a TV in the den so we thought this was a good way to watch TV while in that room. Anyway the plan is once we get that up and running we will take the laptop in to get cleaned up and all the pictures off onto our external hardrive then the laptop will be used for travel and general farting around with. I think it is a good plan at this point anyway!

Now, I hope FEDEX does not delay the shipping......if they do you know what I will call them.....YUP, bastards!

First day commuting...kind of

I did it...kind of. I drove to work this morning and back home for lunch then biked to work after lunch! It took me a bit to get all my stuff together and pump up the tires but I hit the road at 12:21 and made my telephone phone that will guard by bike by 12:29. Of course it is all downhill from where I live and work so the way home will take a bit long being mainly uphill but HEY, I DID IT! This is the first time I have been on the bike this year...UGH. I can tell I need to wear my bike shoes as I can feel it on the bottom of my feet. I can also feel the not wearing bike shorts. I know that I just need saddle time to take care of the butt thing. I think the bike shoes will need to be worn on my commutes. My goal is AT LEAST TWO TIMES a week to start out with the commuting. Of course there will be days that there is no way it will work for me like when golf league starts on Wednesdays in Brandon. Anyway the goal is two times a week so it can only get better from there!

Kris is doing well after her surgery. I am just amazed. She has a little pain but all in all she is doing fine. She had an overnight in the hospital but was ready to break out on Friday morning. I think they are thinking she will be off work 3-4 weeks. Since she is doing well she will be taking care of Abe (our dog) in the afternoons so I will not have to commute with him in the trailer for a few weeks. It would be good to get him out in the trailer to get use to it before the commuting.

It sure felt good to get on the bike and ride a bit.

Paris-Roubaix

Don't forget to watch a great bike race Sunday on Versus. The Paris-Roubaix! Watch the riders punish their bodies riding over cobbles, VERY narrow farmland roads, usually crappy weather and then finish in the Velodrome in Roubaix. I sure hope George Hincapie (Team High Road) can pull it out this year!

BUSY WEEK & misc. crap

I have been very busy with work stuff AGAIN this week. I have been trying to cram five days of work into three. Kris is having surgery on Thursday and so I took Thursday and Friday off. So the blog will be silence for a few days up coming.

Kudos to Mackie for starting off biking this week to work! GOOD JOB MAN!
I plan to start on Monday....I hope the snow will be gone by then. Yes, I said snow..AGAIN..I heard at one point 8-10 inches but do not know if that has changed (not sure if they even know how much we will get-damn meteorologist!). It will be HEAVY wet stuff again as we are to have rain before, then turning to snow tomorrow night with temps in the 30's. Next week I think Tuesday or Wednesday they are talking upper 60's...YEA-HAA!

Congrats Kansas on winning the NCAA tourney. I will have you know that I even picked the total points for the Championship game (pool tie-breaker)!

GO CUBBIES! Even though they played TERRIBLE against the Pirates Monday they still won 10-8 in extra innings. I can only hope they keep on the positive side of .500! They are now 4-3 for the year.

We ordered a new computer March 18 from Dell. It was suppose to ship April 2 and it was delayed. Then it was to ship April 9 (TODAY) and now it has been delayed until April 16....Dell bastards. (Sorry for the profanity but this frustrates me!)

If you get HBO then you need to watch the John Adams mini series. It is REALLY very well done and really good. They are on episode #5 with a total of 7 episodes. Very good cast, costuming and set design. This mini series should win some awards, I would hope! Tom Hanks is one of the executive producers. I had forgotten about some of the early history of our nation. It was an amazing time that is for sure.

Have a good rest of the week and don't put your snow scoop away yet!

Silliness - Crazy Frog

All is right in the universe

Today is suppose to be a beautiful day and the Cubs won their first game yesterday. The world can keep turning and life can go on!

Turning the corner

It seems I am turning the corner on this darn bug finally!

Ok, so all the bike bloggers are so down because the weather has been CRAPPY! Lets face it, we are really ready for spring to hit anytime now. None of the teasing 40-50 weather to be followed by snow showers.

Come on Mother Nature.....BRING ON SPRING!

FREE HOUSE! (not an April fools joke)

Can you find it in your hearts to give this old lady (no, not the writer of this blog) a final resting spot? Read about it http://argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080325/LIFE/803250304 (sorry could not get the hidden link thing to work dang it!)

Opening Day CUBS!

Is this the YEAR? God only knows at this point. Of course like every life long Cubs fan we always are hoping this is the year only to be disappointed the end of September. I would love to see the Cubs make a good run at it this year since I believe it has been 100 years since they won the World Series.

I have a couple short term goals for them but I have not let Lou know this yet.

FIRST: I want them to win all the series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. I always have a standing bet with the boss (huge Pirates fan) over these series. I have come out the winner numerous times on that bet but would love to keep winning. I look forward to tipping back a nice glass of wine from the bottle of wine I will win from the bet or a good glass of beer from the 6 pack that I will win. We have not decided on the winners winnings yet but the tally sheets are up and ready to be marked in favor of the Cubs.

SECOND: I would like to see them repeat as NL Central Champs again this year. That would be back to back championships and more opportunities to buy NL Champs logo stuff!...hahaha

Anything above and beyond this is just icing on the cake! Of course I would love to see the Cubs go all the way, who wouldn't? What a great story it would be.

I'm alive----kind of

Back at work finally. Didn't make it into work on Friday. This crud is not fun. Still coughing and have stuff in my lungs but it is getting better. After a couple nice glasses of Blackberry Brandy yesterday I was feeling good! I think I need one NOW! Blackberry Brandy was my dad's cure all so to speak. When ever he was feeling crappy he would have a few swigs off the Blackberry Brandy bottle. Of course my mom's cure all for everything was to take a nice hot bath, 2-aspirins and go to bed. Didn't matter if you had a hang nail it was the right thing to do! I did try both remedies and the Blackberry Brandy made me feel better!

Now on to the weather...UGH...TIRED OF SNOW, READY FOR SPRING...the only good thing is that it will be a short lived 4-8 inches of snow that falls today and/or tomorrow. It is suppose to be in the 50's by the end of the week! YEAH!

Stay well out there!

Sick.....

Well, I ended up hitting after hours care at Hy-Vee last night after work. I started coughing Tuesday afternoon and as the day progressed yesterday it was getting worse. I do not have influenza-A like two of the four people in our company that are out sick with. I have either a different flu or a viral thing. So now I have cough syrup with Codene and some over the counter meds all in all it should make work fun today!

Body count today: One of the sickies is back to work, three are still out and the boss has yet to show.

Bugs

The flu bug is hitting our company hard. We are small anyway but today we are REALLY SMALL. Both shop guys are out sick. Our hardware guy is out sick and so is the other lady in the office that does some bidding and billing. That leaves me and the boss and he is not here yet this morning. UGH...Since I am acting boss this morning I am going to give myself a raise and more vacation time....what do you think?

Jurrasic fart

It's official

I finally joined the Falls Area Bicycle Club! (FAB)

Beer, Spaghetti and BUSY!

Well the weekend went off pretty much as planned. Nothing to wild. We did hit Monk's on Friday night after the Skyforce game. I had a Nogne-O Brown Ale that was pretty good but was a bit to cold to begin with. Saturday night we ended up cooking a big VAT of spaghetti sauce so we stayed at the house, ate, had some wine and just BS'd. We had five people eating supper and still froze 6 quart bags of sauce..YUM! We also tried whole wheat pasta - angel hair, it was very good and of course the roomie made beer bread which was also great!

Church was PACKED at the 9:45 service. We ended up out in one of the wings at First Lutheran and sneaked out before the end of the final hymn so we could make out brunch reservations. Braco had some great food for brunch. The Ahi Tuna was excellent on their buffet.

Sorted through a bunch of CRAP in the den and I mean to tell you it was CRAP! Still not close to being done and organizing things. It will take a bit of time so good thing we are starting NOW!


I can not believe HOW BUSY work is with bidding. I am going to be swamped the next three weeks. I feel overtime or comp time is going to be in order to get it all done. I also have my first responders coninuing education stuff starting this week and that will take up a few Fridays (6:30-9:30pm) and Saturdays (8:00a-1:30p) until mid April or end of April. UGH....Oh well good to get refreshed with all that first aide stuff and CPR. Not sure I need to be at all the class for the whole time as there is lecture and then lab time but we will see.


Slept for crap last night or should I say this morning. I was tired last night and took a nice hot bath then read a bit (28-days behind bars-about biking from Seatle to New York) and then turned off the TV. Woke up at 4:00am. Turned on the TV as I was tossing and turning then shut it off at 4:55am then of course the radio started playing at 5:00am and then I feel asleep again to wake at 6:00 to turn the TV back on then fell asleep AGAIN to wake at 7:20am. UGH...hurried and hit the shower and then to work by 8:00am...well...8:03am. I am sure it is going to be an EARLY NIGHT FOR ME! --- I am guessing I was thinking of ALL the things I need to do in the next few weeks so my brain was in overdrive and that was what woke me up! I guess it is better than dreaming about the spanish mafia trying to kill me...this was the Saturday night dream..very bizzare but I am know for very bizzare dreams!


Hope everyone out there has a great week!

Weekend plans

Heading to the Skyforce game tonight with some friends. Roomies sister won four tickets for a game and she gave them to us so we will hit a local establishment to have some beverages and food before the game. Tomorrow evening we are taking the roomies nephew out for supper and movie. He is a poor college kid and needs to be treated! Not sure where we are eating or what movie yet but it should be fun. Easter Sunday there will be church and a brunch with the roomies family at Bracco. Should be a good time also. The remainder of the weekend will be filled with cleaning and sorting in the den. We purchased a new computer earlier this week (delivery around April 7-9) so we want to get our computer desk fixed up. I bought some old desk parts are an antique store last summer and I am getting a wood door from work to lay across them. There will be some modifications to the wood door but will need to see how everything all lays out once we get our new computer all set up. The roomie is going to be having some up coming surgery and so we want to get it all put together for her to mess around with while she recovers. Exciting times at the old homestead!

To all of you out there reading this wacky blog of mine....HAPPY EASTER and travel safe!

NCAA and some bike stuff

I had one wrong from my NCAA picks last night...not so bad, I guess at this point...Duke almost put me in a real bad way but they pulled it out!

Picked-up the roomies bike (Gary Fisher - Napa-comfort bike) from LBS and man does it look NASTY...in a good way. It looks like it is ready for commuting! She had new serfas tires (inverted tread) and black planet bike fenders installed plus a tune-up. Once we got it home I put on her bar-ends, headlight and taillight. I tried to get her seat on but needed help...UGH...the bolt was on there so TIGHT that I could not get it loose. I did everything but stand on my head to try and get it loose. So, I loaded up the seat with seat post still attached and headed to Scheels as I knew they would have a mechanic there at that time of the evening. He ended up taking a HAMMER to it to ge it loosened. As we walked out the wind caught my coat and blew it up against the seat tube and so now I have grease all over it...DANG IT! It is that nasty green sticky yucky grease that is on the seatpost-shock. We headed home and got the seat all installed and she is almost ready to roll! I think she still wants a rear rack and trunk for it yet. I have some work on my old Gary Fisher HK-ll to do yet but it is minor, pump up the tires and put on the headlight and taillight.

I bought a Terry Liberator seat and I am still deciding on what bike I should put it on yet. I have a nice gel seat on my GF but on my Cannondale (road bike) I have a Avocet VERY old gel seat. I am going to ride my Cannondale in the MS150 so that is what I am thinking about putting the Terry on. The only issue I will have is that I will mainly ride my GF around town and not so much my road bike so in order to break in that saddle I am thinking of putting it on the GF and then changing it over later to get a few miles in on my road bike. Any suggestion?

NCAA Picks

Ok, so I have UCLA and Kansas in the Championship game with Kansas winning!....I also fill out a bracket for my roomie and that bracket has UCLA and UNC with UNC winning! Stay tuned to see how I did!...DISCLAIMER-this pool is all done in FUN and NO MONEY changes hands!

March Madness

First off, March Madness has a new meaning this year. Work has been silly crazy which is good but yet not so good as it is hard to get caught up. Oh well, I guess it is a good thing and I will survive. I have my arm floatation devices on to keep me above water!

Second, not sure if you get into the real March Madness hoop-la. We do in our office in fact there is usually a TV going at some point during the games. Some of them are very exciting. Not sure who I am cheering for this year. It is mid-morning and I have not even filled out my bracket yet. Yes, I am one that gets in an office pool and the funny thing is that it is with our competitor in town along with reps and various friends that also join in.

How do you pick you bracket? Do you agonize over the data and look at the records or do you do what me and another friend did one year and that was look at the mascots and picked what mascot would beat the other mascot. Now that was fun!...Yes, we lost and were out of the pool pretty darn early but it made for some fun at the time. I do not have a scientific way to pick teams. I usually look at their record and go with my gut.

To all you March Madness junkies out there......GOOD LUCK!

Weekend recap

Had a great weekend but not so good for the diet! Started out by hitting the Keg (chicken place) for some Rockets (beer vessels) and food (of course chicken) Friday night. Met a bunch of friends there and of course we always have laughter involved.

Saturday hit Dino's for breakfast and yes, I got talked into having a green beer with breakfast. It was ok and to be honest...this was the first ever green beer for me. Took the roomies bike to LBS and having it worked over. Two new tires, tune -up and two fenders. She will be already for commuting! We ventured down to the grocery store after the bike shop. A few weeks ago we had purchased the recycling bags from Wally World and decided we wanted to try and use them instead of using plastic or paper bags. We had our Wally World bags along (four of them) and got a 20 cent discount! I was pretty pumped about that. So nine more trips to the grocery store and the bags are paid for! We also noticed a bunch of other people starting to carry their own bags to reuse. VERY COOL! We did a few more things around the house on Saturday and then headed to Brandon. Met some friends for supper at the Brandon Steakhouse (this was a dumb- s*%t moment for me. I had said we will meet at the Tea Steakhouse in Brandon. Well, it is the Brandon Steakhouse in Brandon and the Tea Steakhouse is in Tea - Go Figure!) Good supper. Then headed to the Brandon Golf Course for a St Patty's Day party. It was very interesting. Seemed to be mostly a few of the workers family but it was still fun. I had a couple of drinks then they came around with jell-o shots and of course we had to have two of them that evening. I can't imagine what their family reunions are like. At one point they had a Lucky Charms and Green Beer contest. Yes GREEN BEER instead of milk in the Lucky Charms. OH MY...it was nasty looking! I guess they have family get-to-gethers like this all the time. They sure know how to have a fun time!

Sunday was pretty mellow. Fixed breakfast and then did some work stuff. We did grill out for supper and had cheddar burgers, baked beans, potato salad and chips....YUM!

This morning we were blanketed with fresh snow (very heavy-heart attack type). We have about 4 inches on the ground now and more to come today. Maybe as much as 8 total...we will see. Mother Nature's last winter hurrah.....I HOPE!

HAPPY ST PATTY'S DAY -----

Friday afternoon - silliness

Looking a bit different?

I decided to change things up a bit. Hope you like it! I might still change things a bit more...we will see! Yes, I did take the picture in the title. It is a picture of one of the many wonderful sunsets on the Bahamas cruise.

Friday Misc.

So, this morning I step on the scale and I am down 18 pounds! This is pretty exciting. This means I have lost about 7% of my body weight! I think the roomie is still stuck at 20-21 pound loss which is 9-10% loss of body weight. She is still doing great also! GO TEAM!

Last year a couple friends had asked our group of friends about hitting the LPGA tourney in MPLS this year. Me and the roomie decided at that point we would drive up there and spend the weekend and not go to the golf event and get hooked up with roomies nephew, hit Kierens Irish Pub (bring on the Guinness-they have the perfect poor there) and now we decided to take in a Twins game. All the ressies have been made and tickets purchased. I will be looking forward to that in June. I have never been to the Metro-dome to see a game and this will be my 3rd baseball stadium to watched a game in. The others are Wrigley (4-times) and Coors Field in Denver. I am excited as our tickets are in home run alley. We are staying out by the Mall of America and taking the Lightrail into downtown so no driving will be needed once we are there!

We are taking the roomies bike in to the LBS to have it tuned up and new tires put on it. We are getting excited for the warmer weather and commuting to our jobs via 2 wheels. I think we even have some other friends into doing the same this summer.

Bought a 5 gallon gas container last night and plan on filling it up along with my other smaller container for mowing this summer. That should almost last the whole summer....I HOPE! If the gas hits $4.00 a gallon like they are saying it is best to buy at $3.09 now.

Well, hey...HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

Darn, You Tube

Some of you have already seen the BLUNDER and some have no idea what I am talking about. Seems that last week I tried to do a couple of post to my blog from You Tube and they never showed up...well you know me, the one that has the patiants of some biblical charactor, had to keep trying to get the video to post to my blog. It seems that I had quite a few of the little vidoes on my blog by late morning today..even though the date they say they arrived was yesterday. Not sure what was going on but I had started to try and post them last week so ignore the titles to the blog entries...I do know what day it is! By deleting some of the videos I ended up deleting one of the kErnEls replies....sorry dude! I think I got everything all fixed up....unless more start to post to it again...not sure how many times I tried to post these darn little videos...so you better enjoy them!

Monday afternoon silliness

Friday - Silliness!

Be careful out there................

This is very sad....I read my niece's blog this morning (she is a wild cyclecross person in California) Her blog had a link to this story. She did know of the bikers involved but didn't know them personally. You can read about the story here

Super Hero

:
You are Superman

Superman 80% Green Lantern 75% The Flash 70% Iron Man 70% Supergirl 65% Robin 65% Wonder Woman 55% Spider-Man 50% Batman 50% Catwoman 50% Hulk 45%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

Super Villian

Your results:
You are Dr. Doom

Dr. Doom 62% Apocalypse 59% Magneto 55% Poison Ivy 55% Kingpin 53% Juggernaut 52% Venom 51% Lex Luthor 49% Mr. Freeze 47% The Joker 45% Two-Face 44% Dark Phoenix 43% Catwoman 41% Mystique 40% Riddler 36% Green Goblin 36%

Blessed with smarts and power but burdened by vanity.

Click here to take the Supervillain Personality Quiz

Weekend recap

Had a great time this past weekend in Bridge City! We got to Yankton and hit Charlie's Pizza....YUM! Had Three Stoogies (cheeseburger pizza) James Dean (I think) (Chicken, garlic and tomatoes) and Rose had a Marilyn Mermaid (Crab, Shrimp, green olive and black olive) I of course had to try them all and they were GREAT...and then washed them down with a South Dakota Martini. (tomato beer)

Saturday was spend reorganizing at the clubhouse. Cleaned out the freezer moved some books from the second floor to the basement and organized the laundry room storage area. Looks pretty nice. Still have what is left of mom's clothes in her closet. Can't seem to do anything with the yet. I opened the closet door looked at them and starting thinking about the last time I had seem mom wear a particular item so I closed the door and will try and get through that another time. That is very hard.

We drove out to the lake and only saw one bald eagle and a HUGE flock of wild turkeys! We lost count but there had to be at least 20 or more! On the way to Yankton we saw a heard of deer (nine). So we did see some wildlife!

Saturday late afternoon we fired up the grill and had steaks, potatoes on the grill and then I threw some french bread on there and then had to wash it down with a nice bottle of wine....OH MAN IT WAS GOOD! We headed out to pick up our tickets for the play, Beauty and the Beast and then paid for our season tickets. Headed to Ben's Brewing Company for a glass of wine before the play. Ben's has remodeled since the last time we had been there. They took out a wall and then made the bar longer. It has to be 25-30 feet long now. It was a good change to see! We drank our wine then headed to the play. The play was put on by the Children's Theater. Let me tell you they had 120 kids they had to try and coral...what an undertaking for the directors and other volunteers! The play was really pretty good. We were laughing at some of the little ones. They might have been in the 4 year old range that were just bouncing around on stage. Pretty funny! All in all if you have a chance go see the play...."be our guest, be out guest".......(For those non Disney people out there this is a snippet of one of the songs that is sung) The other great thing is that with a play that involves so many people the theater main floor was FULL and they had people in the balcony! This was great to see also!

Made back to Sioux Falls in decent time but feeling the affects of not being able to sleep in and the time change....UGH......

This weeks plans...try and get the bikes in to the shop to have them tuned up and ready to roll!

Bike races!

Don't forget to watch VERSUS on Sunday for the Bike race coverage!

Season Tickets and a Good Book

Yesterday I called the Dakota Theater in Yankton. Me and the roomie are now season pass holders for the Lewis and Clark Theater Company! We went to a few plays last year and really enjoyed the productions so decide that with the up coming GREAT productions they have scheduled it would a be a great thing to do. We are heading to Bridge City tonight to hit Charlie's for PLL(pizza, libations and laughter). Tomorrow it will be taking down some of the winter decorations at the Clubhouse and then hitting the play Beauty and the Beast Saturday night. Should be a great weekend!

I am also reading a NEW book...yes this is book number two of the year! The book is 28 Days Behind Bars by Harold Waggner. It is pretty good so far. I just finished day 6 of his 28 day adventure. I get a kick out of his humor...like the girl that had a tube top on but didn't have tubes to go in it and also the seasons in Wisconsin...early winter, mid winter, late winter and next winter! That is how it feels here today....UGH...below zero AGAIN! REALLY DONE WITH THIS! Anyway it is a good read so far!

Seafood

Hit Joey's Seafood place last night. I had the fish and chips with of course malt vinegar and let me tell you it is a lot of food! I ordered an extra filet for left overs and I have two HUGE filets left (counting my extra)! It was good although the fish and chips are still better at the Rose and Crown in the UK at EPCOT but these were good also....ahhh more left overs!

Sign it!

Here is a site that has a petition (www.petitiononline.com/bikether/petition.html). It is for google maps to add a "Bike There" and "Take Public Transit" options. It would show actual bicycle lanes from the city being mapped and would automatically plan your route and might also have an option to show the most direct route or the most bike friendly (safest) route. Currently byCycle.org has these features for two cities - Portland Oregon and Madison Wisconsin.

Now if our city only had biking lanes that would be GREAT!

SNOW and CERT

It snowed last night! Not much but DANG IT! I am so VERY READY FOR SPRING! I was sitting in my CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) meeting last night and we looked out the window and saw it snowing. The streets were greasy last night and on the drive to work this morning. CERT was good and we have our usual city events that we help out with every year but I did bring up a few more events like for some of the area bike rides to help out with and I think our leader is going to check into that. I also have re-certification for being a first responder expiring the end of this year. They were going to do a few education sessions with our monthly meetings but now they have a first responders class starting up the end of the month that we can audit (sit in on for free and get our credits needed). This will be good review but will mess up a lot of up coming weekends. It is all good though!

Weighing in:
The roomie is stuck at around 20 pounds and I actually moved a bit and am now down 17.2 pounds.

Cool idea!

There is a little liberal arts college in Wisconsin, Ripon College, that is going to give FREE bikes to freshman (incoming) as long as they do not bring a car on campus for a year! What a great idea!...so do you think they will be Wisconsin make Treks?

Weekend recap.......

Not sure what got into me but WOW....I started cleaning out the kitchen cupboards! I am about 2/3 done and have a few garbage bags amass for my efforts full of expired or best if used by boxes or cans of food. VERY Sad and nothing but a waste (money and food wise). Well, now that it is cleaned out I feel the need to make sure this does not happen AGAIN! We have both decided that it is best to eat more at home (except this weekend was not a good start) as it is healthier and less expensive. I am sure we will get right on that after we eat all of our leftovers from dining out this past weekend!

Hit a few bike shops this weekend to find a trunk and rack for the roomies bike. I think we found one but just not sure yet on size. I guess it depends on what all she wants to use it for and that has yet to be decided. Saw some very cool bikes but man some of the are very spendy but they are still very fun to look at! I would have to win the lotto to justify buying a $5,000.00 bike.

Went to the home show on Friday night. Kind of boring. There were some cool things but we were not all that impressed with the show in general. Maybe it was the fact that we were both very tired. The roomies back was sore and my ankle was not doing all that well. It sure was a hit the bed early night for me!

From other blogs I have read it sounds like the South Dakota Bicycle Summit was a success! Way to go dudes!