Anyone remember the Dennis Leary song by the same name?
Scoreboard, Part 1
Flat Tires, 1 – Apparently I pinch flatted because of my roadside repair. This morning I noticed that the rear tire was a touch soft so I pumped it up to a rock-solid state prior to my ride this morning. A little more than two miles into my journey I hit a bump in the road (literally) and immediately heard pffffffffffft. DANGEN! Not again! So it was off the bike for another roadside tube change. Looks like I’ll be walking over to REI for another patch kit, and because all of my CO2 cartridges are now at home, another one of those for my ride home tonight.
Mini-Lectures, 1 – After getting my ride in order again I restarted my pedaling to work. Along Oakdale I passed another cycling commuter and because I was lagging I popped through the light at McClendon Av. As I was stopped at the light at North Av / Moreland Av she pulled up behind me and the following conversation occurred.
Her: “You know you shouldn’t run red lights.”
Me: *taking my earbud out* “Pardon me?”
Her: “You know you shouldn’t run red lights.”
Me: “I’m fine.” (In an asshole-ish tone because the last thing I wanted this morning was to be lectured)
Her: “Well, I had a friend die six months ago running a red light.”
Me: “Oh, well I’m sorry to hear that.”
At which point the light changed and I let her go ahead of me.
I then noticed that she had not rear light on her bicycling. Odd for someone so concerned about safety.
Pulling a “Schleck”, 1 – As if flatting wasn’t bad enough I had to stop one more time in order to repair a chain malfunction. My chain coming off probably cost me the chance of winning this year’s Tour de France.
ITP Flickr Pic
Hey look! A rafting photo!
Scoreboard, Part 2
Second place isn’t bad, right? Even when you come in second out of four?
Last night I joined some old friends for team trivia at F.R.O.G.S. Oddly there were only four teams playing and we managed to finish in second place. The evening was quite fun even though I didn’t eat anything other than chips and queso and didn’t realize that they had decent beer on draft.
After trivia I headed over to Trader Joe’s where I picked up some blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and bananas. Can you tell that I’m trying to eat a little healthier?
It’s Official, I’m Going To Stop Looking For New Flip-Flops
A couple of weeks ago I had a minor blowout on my favorite pair of flip-flops. Unconcerned I assumed that I could go out an buy another pair at a decent price, even if I couldn’t recall where I had purchased the pair of Columbia’s that I’m wearing. I couldn’t be any more wrong.
I’ve checked REI, Sports Authority, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Target all with no luck. It seems as if flop-flop styles have changed and I can’t find a pair which fits, fits my minor concern for fashion, and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
Any suggestions?
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – A bit asshole-ish today
Current Music – listening to last night’s Top Chef because I missed it last night.
Website Of The Day – iPhonic is a cool website collecting great photos taken with iPhones.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my bike
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check because I was afraid that I wouldn’t like what I saw
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77
Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 67.2 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 4 (6)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 10
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 2
August Goals
– Not to get sick for the entire month (I did it once, I can do it again!)
– Not get fired from my job
– Ride my bicycle no fewer than 200 miles
– Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further
– Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
– Completely plan out my August/September Colorado trip
2010 Goals
– Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds) [update: On July 1 I’ve sadly gained weight; I’m at 203 pounds]
– Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
– Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Sharpened Stone.
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
– Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
– Get the Black Sheep stats out of Excel and online
– Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides
– Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers
The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in PHP and CSS Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
Sorry for the shorter and scattered post today. I’m behind the 8-ball a bit with the flat costing me valuable time this morning. Now it’s off to get some work done…
Cherries are in season, too. I bought a bag at Whole Foods and they are awesome. Steve better grab some before I eat the whole bag!
Very true Debbie. I was buying cherries a few weeks ago and should look into getting some more before they go out of season.
Here’s what I would have said to that other biker – “yes, I know I shouldn’t run red lights.” “Well – maybe if your friend would have looked both ways before running the red light, they wouldn’t have died.” Yep – I’d be an asshole too.
Here’s my asshole biker story from last night – I’m going down a nice hill (went up the Eves Road climb, then decided to come back down it instead of going thru the Martins Landing neighborhood) & these guys come bombing past me. No biggie, but then they decide to stop at the bottom of the hill (instead of taking the right turn) right in front of me, so I have to basically stop instead of carrying some speed into the flat of Riverside Drive……. pissed me off………
Sorry to hear about another flat – I know I can change a flat, but really don’t want to.
Flip flops aren’t cheap anywhere if you want decent ones.
I guess tonight I should take the rear wheel off again and do a complete inspection of the rim tape and the tire.
I forgot to mention that I employed Steve’s $1-bill patch trick to make sure that the place where the nail entered earlier in the week to make sure that the tire wasn’t poking through the tube.
You mean there is money inside Steve’s tires? Not after tonight! 🙂
Debbie, there’s always money in the banana stand. Steve’s trick uses $100-bills because that’s how he rolls. *HEEEEEY OOOOOH! Try the veal!*
Debbie- you stay away from my wheels… what do you think I did with your $3 lottery winning the other day? (inside joke).
In case you need to replace or repair your rim tape, get a roll of strapping/filament tape and work away from the valve hole. It stays put, is strong and cheap.
And for those that expressed an interest in the velodrome classes, they are adding a couple of weekend classes. Maybe it will actually be cooler weather!
http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/content/2010/08/weekend-beginners-classes.html
-FP
You should not be surprised to find out that Prepared Paulie has rim tape in his basement. It’s right next to the CO2 and the extra tires. I just can’t help myself…
I just returned from REI (tried, but failed to beat the heat). Today’s cashier was one of the instructors of the camp cooking class I took back in June. I thought she was cute then but, up close she was really cute. Pity that I have absolutely no game.
I’m not surprised that Dick Lane will be adding classes since it seemed as if a lot of people signed up for their Living Social deal, yours truly included.
I also tried and failed to beat the heat this morning. I had to pick up the rental car for my trip north. I figured I would just park my car at the gym and walk less than one mile to the Budget rental office. I missed Courtland (didn’t realize it changed from Washington) and wandered into some not so friendly territory, it took me about 45 mintues…I must have been a sight when I finally walked in the front door. A little bummed I got stuck with a Ford Focus, but it does have Sirius so that’s sort of makes up for it.
I bought new flip flops, actually Fit Flops, I can’t believe I spent $40…but they are much more comfortable than the $5 Target ones I bought last year.
Well I was hoping to leave town by 1:00 pm but I haven’t started packing yet (and I might need to take another shower), looks like I’ll be hitting Nashville a little later than I planned.
Ha! There’s ALWAYS money in the banana stand! (I have the complete series on DVD.)
Safe trip, Martha!
Well played, Jenka. I have the complete series as well, though I just lent Season One to ITP-Reader Betsy for her current vacation.
Safe travels Martha. I can recommend Sirius 26 if you want to listen to the bizarre music that I like. 🙂
I’ve never been a flip-flops wearer, but when i was in Barbados recently my sandals got wet and stunk!! So I bought some “Reef” flip-flops and threw the sandals away. My girlfriend said that Reef were good flip-flops, and so far I like them.
some Reefs have a bottle opener in the sole – makes it that much more worth spending the extra money.
I forgot that it was Reefs who had flip-flops with a bottle opener…. I tried some Reefs on last night at Dick’s Sporting Goods and thought that they were too tight for my feet (and my feet are on the narrow side). I think the tight straps are “in” these days, but I prefer a loose strap for my flip-flops. Maybe next year…
LOVE the photos! The man falling out is priceless – nice capture!
Thanks Stacy.
Remember kids, whitewater rafting is like successful safe sex — always keep your center of gravity above the rubber.