recent activities

Walked 8 miles on the MKT.

Went to St. Louis for work and took the kids.

Watched Nora perform with her school choir at her teacher's wedding.


Survived the first ice storm of the season.

i heart crazy fun but not in the rain

Spent Saturday in the rain with Sam but not Dr. H-V.

cx is here

I'm a bit nervous. I didn't expect to be but I am. Heading out to cx practice tonight at the scene of my accident last fall. I probably should have put bigger tires on my bike and probably should take it easy on the corners, especially since it rained a bucket load last night. I haven't been riding as much as I would like either. Only rode half the number of miles in September that I did in August and close to a third of what I did in July. Not that I have anything to train for anyway. Hopefully by this time next year I will be ready for a real cx racing season.

Congrats to Josh on his most excellent finish in Michigan. That is some stiff competition and he did great!

life

It's been a while since I wrote.
Here's a summary:
Work, eat, bike, disc golf, watch soccer. And celebrated our 16th anniversary Aug. 31. 16 years wow! THe kids stayed with a friend while we ate at Sycamore, and the Upper Crust. MMmmmm good! Especially the dessert at Upper Crust. We even got a hotel room over night.

Big news this week of course...one more day of work and then I am outta here. Tuesday a.m. road trip to KC for the first stage of ToM. I think I'll stay overnight in KC with my inlaws before heading to the start of Stage 2 in Clinton on Wednesday. Maybe I'll have pictures next time.

baby or Playmate?

If this is liberated, I’ll opt for dignity

...Bratz dolls apparently aimed at ages "4-plus." "Bratz Babyz makes a ‘Babyz Nite Out’ doll garbed in fishnet stockings, a hot-pink micromini, and a black leather belt. … The baby also sports a tummy-flaunting black tank paired with a hot-pink cap. ‘These Babyz demand to be lookin’ good on the street, at the beach or chillin’ in the crib.’ " Another of the dolls wears heavy red lipstick and bright toenail polish to match red panties. One is almost reduced to sputtering.

For the slightly older set, the "tweens" - girls between 9 and 12 - Target markets thong underwear. Apparently you can find "Care Bear" thongs at some retailers and "push-up" bras at Kohl’s for the first-time bra purchaser.

I don't usually like what I read by Mona Charen and even here I don't like her tone but as a father of a 9 year old girl I have to agree with Mona on this one. I would place the blame on some sort of right-wing, capitalist "conspiracy" to keep women in line rather than left-wing feminism like Ms. Charen does but either way the result is disheartening and depressing to anyone raising a daughter (well, I guess not everyone because someone is buying this crap for their kids).

bwahahaha

From the latest installment of Trib Talk:

"I hate to rain on the parade of supporters of more streets for cars and trucks, but it is unreasonable to expect them to address certain problems that should give us a pause from our headfirst dive into a new scheme of public transportation. Hundreds of thousands of children are injured riding in automobiles annually, more than any other activity except perhaps basketball. Many of these injuries are serious head injuries, and no other activity comes close by comparison. Adult drivers frequently suffer injuries as well. More streets in more neighborhoods will likely lead to more crime in those neighborhoods. Wish that it were not so. Balance is essential when driving a car. Balance in discussing this community issue is important as well. It is not the job of advocates of streets for cars to provide this balance."

Not really, I plagiarized and edited it for reasonableness but what a strange world it would be if it were so. Unfortunately, the actual blurb went something like this:

"I hate to rain on the parade of supporters of more sidewalks for bicyclists and pedestrians, but it is unreasonable to expect them to address certain problems that should give us a pause from our headfirst dive into a new scheme of public transportation. With few exceptions, most of us will not ride a bike or walk when the conditions are too hot, too cold, rainy or snowy or icy or when the travel distance is very far. Those conditions prevail most of the time. Hundreds of thousands of children are injured riding bikes annually, more than any other sport except perhaps basketball. Many of these injuries are serious head injuries, and no other sport comes close by comparison. Adult bicyclists frequently suffer injuries as well. More sidewalks in more neighborhoods will likely lead to more crime in those neighborhoods. Wish that it were not so. Balance is essential when riding a bicycle. Balance in discussing this community issue is important as well. It is not the job of advocates of sidewalks for walking and biking to provide this balance."

The only legitimate complaint in this entire ramble is "With few exceptions, most of us will not ride a bike or walk when the conditions are too hot, too cold, rainy or snowy or icy or when the travel distance is very far. " But some of that even could change if people accepted a little sweat.

And why exactly would a sidewalk create more crime? Is it the as of yet unheard of population of "green" eco-thieves unwilling to use internal combustion engines to wreak havoc on these unsuspecting neighborhoods,

"Bwahahah! now that you saps have sidewalks, me and my gang, the "Strollers" can unleash our nefarious scheme of walking off with your televisions and stereos, iPods and computers! Oh, had they only put in sidewalks when they built your houses! We could have been robbing you ages ago, you unwitting stooges! And with sidewalks our getaway will be so much easier now that we can simply walk away from the scene of our wrongdoing. And our rivals in the "Walkers" better watch out--we're gonna go for some walk-by shootings!"

WTF!

just 2 months away

NEWS RELEASE
Top-ranked Team Discovery Channel to participate in the upcoming inaugural Tour of Missouri international cycling race

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (June 25, 2007)
Just two weeks before this year’s Tour de France, America’s newest elite
cycling race---the Tour of Missouri---today announced the participation of
the World’s No. 1-ranked team, the American-based Discovery Channel team
for the inaugural race.

The event is scheduled for September 11-16, 2007, starting in Kansas
City and finishing six days later in St. Louis. It is the season-ending
finale for many of the top teams and promises to be one of North America’s
top events.

OFFER: advice

1) When responding to an offer on freecycle DO NOT use all one case (either UPPER or lower) and DO use punctuation. Your response will most likely be
ignored if you cannot write a readable and courteous email.

2) Because offers on freecycle generate approximately 100 million responses from people asking for the offered item, DO NOT send follow-up emails. If you don't hear
from the offerer, assume you have not won the lottery and won't get the item.

3) DO NOT send emails to the offerer asking for special conditions or
more details and DO NOT ask to be telephoned about the item.

4) Most of all, DO NOT send emails asking if the offerer received your email. He/she did. Your response was NOT chosen from the 100 million responses and someone else's was. DO NOT stress about this; it is the way the freecycle game is played.

The preceding is a rant and rules that were almost posted on freecycle and, because it sounded too much like a similar rant on another yahoo group, was nixed by others in my household with more sense.

Freecycle is a perfect example of community. It's a non-self selecting group; people of all types are participating. There are lots of folks you have to get along with or at least treat with what passes for respect, when in fact you are bothered all to hell by them. You can get lots of great stuff from freecycle but if you offer stuff you've got to be prepared to face a barrage of emails, many from people who do not get the concept very well.

there are no strings (or braces) on me!

Saw the Doc this morning. He was pleased to see that I am seemingly whole in body again. Not only do I have a working ACL but also it appears that my femur has healed. Evidently if it wasn't healed then I would certainly be in much pain and agony. I told him it was still tender inside the joint and had a sharp pain once in a while but he thought that was normal and was unconcerned about the cartilige fragment we were so worried about.

So...I can ride without the brace now. I can start weaning myself off the brace otherwise. And I don't have to go back to physical therapy. Still need to do muscle exercises like leg presses, quad curls, swimming and elliptical machine, etc.

tuesday nite ride

Last night was the Brendaville Cycling Team's first training ride. All went really well. Sam, Jordan, Steve and I rode up to Jason's house (we're an inter-'hood team) picked him up and rode to Grindstone where we hopped on the trail and rode it to McBaine. I had never ridden with Jason before but he is a strong cyclist. He is only 12 and rode a bike that was a bit small for him. If he had a bike that fit him with larger wheels he would have hammered Sam and Jordan. We all were tired and hungry by the time we returned but it was a satisfying ride for sure. I hope this was just the first of a long series of rides.

When we stopped at McBaine we met up with some people from Pennsylvania who were riding the length of the trail from St. Louis. They were loaded down with camping gear but wanted to head to Columbia for a bed rather than a sleeping bag. So we escorted them into town. Evidently they have done several different rails-to-trails trips around the country. Sounds like a great adventure and a great way to take a bike trip. There is one along the Erie Canal they would like to do next. I would like to do that one too.

I am off to the Doc's this morning. I hope I get a big thumbs up. I am a bit nervous as I have ridden 5 days in a row now and have already had my biggest week this year with 84 miles and it's only Tuesday. I just hope my knee is not hurt by that. It's kinda sore and tender in the joint. But is has been before and only gotten stronger and better afterward.

of sheep

My entire family(3 brothers, their wives and children as well as my parents) all got together this weekend outside of Columbia. Friends of ours who live on a small farm went out of town so we took over for them and took care of their animals and garden in return for a place to stay. The weekend didn't start out terribly auspiciously and my career in livestock seemed blighted as I killed two chickens in the first day. I know it sounds terrible and it was. Evidently I didn't know how to operate the water dispenser correctly and on the hottest day of the year the "Meat" chickens (as opposed to the "Layers") ran out of water and two died from dehydration. After having my burying them (Sam and Nora dug the hole) I got a fresh start and didn't kill any more animals. Saturday night as I was closing up the barn, I looked into one of the stalls and saw a sheep and what I thought at first was a chicken. Turns out it was a newborn lamb, the speckled one in the picture above. I started hyperventilating and calling for my wife and as I did so I realized there was another even newer born lamb. Jesus! this wasn't supposed to happen for a nother couple of weeks. WIth the aid of my brothers, we spent the next four hours watching them, wiping them, sanitizing their umbilical cords, and trying to get the lambs to nurse. They didn't seem to know what to do. Or rather they knew what to do but for whatever reason couldn't. I called several veterinarians and finally was able to get a hold of one. True to James Herriot, when I called the vet it was near midnight on Saturday. Isn't that when all the calls in All Creatures Great and Small occured? The vet said that we could wait until morning and see how they were doing then. If they hadn't started nursing within 18 hours of birth then we would need to intervene. He asked if I could stick a tube down the lambs' throats. I wasn't sure about that and hoped it wouldn't come to that. I slept for a few hours then got up and checked on the lambs. Thank god they were still alive and even better were nursing and seemed to be doing well.

I think I could really get into the livestock thing.

Nora discovered fishing this weekend and after catching three fish now wants start fishing regularly. Sam enjoyed the fishing and swimming as well.

Sam started his new job at Shakes yesterday. He even made some tips while busing tables. I hope he enjoys the work and it is a good experience for him. And I hope he makes a wad a dough so he can pay for his trip to Europe next summer.

Nora power

From Friday's paper:

Gerik Parmele photo

Lee Elementary School third-grader Nora Hargett, center, leaves Flat Branch Park this morning with about 70 other bicyclists and walkers from the school after a free breakfast provided by Broadway Diner. Also participating are Kim Dill, far right, and Nora’s mother, Bridget Murphy, center left. This weekend is the conclusion of Bike, Walk and Wheel Week. Tomorrow’s events include a final rally with free food and music beginning at 2 p.m. at Stephens Lake Park. For a complete list of tomorrow’s activities, visit www.pednet.org.

That's my daughter! She says she'll never get a car.

things are starting to hit a little close to home

Crash kills 16-year-old boy

Horrible and awful. It's only a matter of time until I personally know one of these kids. Sam can start learning to drive next year and he is starting to know kids in high school. I don't think he knew this boy but Sam probably knows friends of his.

Nora says she is never getting a car. I'll buy Sam a Colnago, Felt or Madone 8.9slx or whatever it's called but not a damn car. One tin can death trap is enough. Look at that picture. I am scared and sad.

Nora with her 1st place trophy

st. louis lacrosse parents are the worst

Went to StL Saturday to watch Sam play two games of lacrosse. The first game was exciting, Hickman lost 6-5 but the lead went back and forth the whole game. First one side then the other seemed to be dominating. And dominate is the right word here. Lacrosse is an extremely physical sport, it makes hockey look like a nancy game. I am not sure but it seems you get penalized in lacrosse for hitting the guy with the ball. You can smack the ball out of the opposing team anyway you can, body checking, stabbing with the sticks, smacking the carrier across the back, etc. The game was exciting but unfortunately, did not include my son. Didn't get to see him play. Coach didn't put him. Rather disappointing considering we went to considerable expense and drove two hours starting at 7:30am. With an 18 degree wind chill. It was really too cold to watch him watch the game.

So ok didn't get to see him play the first game but usually he gets some time during the second. Drove in the insane StL traffic to find some food. Found some for Sam at (shhh) Sonic. drove him to the next game, dropped him off and drove to find food for the rest of us (the rest of us didn't want Sonic). Found a Subway, ate a sandwich and had barely swallowed the last bite of something called a, "sweet onion teriyaki sub" when Sam called and said that the second game had been canceled. Seems that for some reason the coach of the other team asked the coach of the Hickman JV team (Sam plays for the freshman team not JV) if the freshmen were coming. Evidently the answer was negative and the Parkway Central High School freshman team went home. Before game time. Sucks. I don't know why the Parkway coach didn't ask our coach but cest la vie, eh. Stupid man. And to top it off, the Parkway Varsity team offered to play our freshmen. Right. Those guys are big, they would have broken our boys' legs. Like a cat 5 going up against cat ones, that's no race. Oh and when our boys declined, the parents of the Parkway team called them "babies."

I think we have one more weekend to drive up to StL and deal with the StL parents and stupid coaches.

HELP - will fiddle for jet

I'm so friggin' tired of these damn pan-handlers. We should give them a hand-up not a hand-out!

KBIA and the University Concert Series have an unusual request that we hope you, or someone you know, might be able to fulfill.

For its upcoming 100th-anniversary season, the University Concert Series is on the verge of bringing acclaimed violinist Itzhak Perlman to Jesse Auditorium. As part of his standard performing contract, Mr. Perlman requires private air transportation.

Paying out-of-pocket for a private jet might prove cost-prohibitive for the Concert Series. If Mr. Perlman visits Jesse, the end result for patrons could be ticket prices in line with the expectations of concertgoers in larger cities.

To try to keep down the costs of bringing back this performing legend for his first visit in nearly a decade, we're appealing to you for an in-kind gift that we understand only a very small minority of our listeners could supply. Do you, or does someone you know, have access to a private jet that Itzhak Perlman could use for a day in March, 2008?

If so, then please call us at 573-882-3431 or 800-292-9136 and ask for Mike Dunn. And thanks in advance for considering a gift to one person that would enrich the cultural life of mid-Missouri as a whole next year.

back in the saddle (part 2)

Ever look at your "tight pants" and realize that they are baggy? I do. Actually they are only half-baggy. They fit pretty well on my right leg but as for my left, I might as well be wearing mtb shorts. That will change soon though! I have ridden the trainer for 2.5 hours so far this week.

One of the good things about riding the trainer in the backyard is that it doesn't matter how many cold beers you get from the fridge, the bike stays upright!

that's the spirit!

There's something admirable in this.

Germany Men's [x-c skiing] team skipped Falun relay... partied instead!

The German men’s relay team sat on the sideline and drank beer while Norwegians, Italians, Swedes, Frenchmen and other nations struggled through the 4 x 10 kilometer relay in warm conditions in Falun, Sweden on Sunday.

FIS and Vegard Ulvang disliked the German ”stunt." They choose not to race the final World Cup race of the season. Instead they brought several kegs of beer and lined up along the course in the sunshine.

- This is not cool, but it’s not mandatory to race. It’s voluntary to start or not, so it’s not much we can do in this case, said Ulvang on Norwegian television.

Overall World Cup winner Tobias Angerer didn't see any problem with their decision not to race.
- We have had a long and good season. The batteries are empty, so we are choosing to stay here today, said Angerer to German television, while a sequence of Germans were cheering for Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset (of Norway) and drinking beer was shown in the background.

Source: Langrenn.com

back in the saddle again

Started riding my bike on the trainer a week ago. Beginning with 5 minutes in the morning and 5 in the evening, I slowly worked up to 18 minutes each time yesterday. All this without having the rear wheel touch the flywheel of the trainer. Actually started intervals of using only my left (bad) leg yesterday; one minute one, one off. Was kind of tough. I haven't decided exactly what I will do today. I think I'll start with resistance and try the one leg pedalling again but maybe not for as long as yesterday. One on, one off for ten minutes maybe.

And good news (or not) depending on your persuasion:
All the Columbia Public School Board candidates are against teaching how the magic man done it. http://www.columbiatribune.com/2007/Mar/20070324News001.asp

a magic man done it

Nora (13) in the game

Her soccer team, Columbia Courage, played in a tournament last weekend. They didn't win but they gave it their all.

Sam's lacrosse team, the Kewpies, also played in a tournament last weekend. They didn't win but they gave it their all.

single moms: cutting edge capitalism

Here's an idea I have been kicking around for a while: marriage is revolutionary and rebellious. OK sounds ridiculous no? Especially when you have groups like Focus on the Family and other religious wingnuts emphasizing an exclusive and hateful version of marriage and family. My idea is that in a capitalist society such as ours marriage goes against the genius of the economy. In short, our extractive economy is creating havoc in our world and anthing that promises to reign that in is worth investigating.

Economics 101 the rev style:
Our affiliations used to be based on the tribe. Every woman who was your mother's age was called "auntie" and every old man was "grandpa." The word "affiliation" itself comes from the latin for "adopt like a son" so it has familial overtones. Our affiliations are becoming more and more fragmented.

After the tribe we separated into what used to be the extended family; father, mother, children grandchildren, perhaps a stray aunt or two. These folks all lived in the same household which was the basic unit of our economy. They shared space, and practically everything else; spoons, towels, toothbrushes. Not much was purchased on the market. With the rise of the market economy, everything changed. The "nuclear family" became the basic unit of our economy. Everyone was expected to strike out on their own and parents were to fend for themselves after the kids were gone. "Empty nest syndrome" is a recent phenomenon.

Now there is much gnashing of teeth and crying about the breakdown of the nuclear family but given our economic system we can't have it any other way. Our economy is premised on everyone buying as much stuff as they can. If I and my wife live together with two children do we really need two dishwashing machines? No. That reminds me, recently I saw ads trying to sell the idea that we all need two clothes dryers because drying takes much longer than washing clothes and it would be much more efficient if you could dry two loads at once. Perhaps we do need to clothes dryers. Does everyone really need their own lawnmower? Think about it. You only use it two hours a week, surely you could find a time to mow when your neighbor isn't and then share a mower.

I would expect that anything shared is not going to do well in our economy. Think of it. What is there that we share or use together freely that is doing well in our society? Monogamy? No! Polygamy? Not!, Mass transportation? Nope! Dormitories at colleges? Nadda! Even watching tv used to be a communal event but now everyone has their own television in their own room (see!).

Don't be surprised as this trend continues. Activities which used to be communal will become increasingly segregated and personal. Look at the death of the metanarratives. Let's take religion. The current trend in the christian religion is for everyone to find and meet their own "personal Jesus." It's no coincidence that the Reformation with it's corresponding individual interpretations of the Bible occured at the same time as the rise of market capitalism. So much for the Catholic (Universal) church. But what about the rise of fundamentalist religions? This is simply an understandable reaction against the disorienting effects of everyday realities. Look at this whole blog entry. It's a fundamentalist reaction too. Just not a religious one. (Oh for the days of the grand marxist metanarrative).

Sharing is the antithesis of capitalism
- if you are to do to do your part for the economy you would: marry, have kids, divorce, and purchase separately outfitted (new) houses. Two of everything for the kids as well. Heck it would be even better if you did that two or three times.
- this is part of the reason why kids who live at home after adolescence are cause for much concern these days. They don't buy stuff. But on second thought, perhaps they are there because that enables them to buy more than they would otherwise. If housing is taken care of then the obstinate son has that much more money to spend on non-durable items such as video games and pizza.

N.B. When I mean marriage I don't mean that hateful constitutional definition "one man, one woman." For this hypothesis, it is unimportant who or for that matter what you marry. As long as the two individuals (of adult status) care for each other or are willing to care for each other I think it's great.

Interestingly, interspecies marriage was legal for a bit here in Missouri where a man married his horse (pun intended).

The longer I write the more I realize that none of this is particularly original but I wanted to say it anyway.

meanwhile in an alternate reality

And not a fantasy...

I am sure ya'll have heard about the planned Nazi march in our fair city. Seems like outside agitators are coming to use their freedom of speech to advocate taking it away from others. There are some groups organizing in response to the swastika wearing cuckoos. Check out their website and raise some money.

Still, I am not sure these guys are that big of a threat to our American way of life. Probably, a bigger threat is our "homespun taliban" because they don't appear at first glance to be so extreme. All christians are equal just some are more equal than others.

what'll they the think of next?

The new supermarket near our house has an automatic water mister to
keep the produce fresh. Just before it goes on, you hear the sound of
distant thunder and the smell of fresh rain. When you approach the milk
cases, you hear cows mooing and witness the scent of fresh hay. When you
approach the egg case, you hear hens cluck and cackle and the air is filled
with the pleasing aroma of bacon and eggs frying. The veggie department
features the smell of fresh-buttered corn.

I don't buy toilet paper there anymore.

even better

The doc was surprised when he saw my knee this morning. He expected the worst and now is thinking that I am healing as we hoped for. The latest time line is in three weeks I may possibly be able to get on the stationary bike. That would be twelve weeks after surgery and twice as long as he expected. You may remember that at the 6 week point I started walking and rode a bit with unpleasant results. Meanwhile I'm keeping my fingers crossed and gulping those chondroitin pills.

Forget facts; it’s time to get your war on

Oh yeaaah!

homespun taliban

Chris Hedges's new book, “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America,” examines how Christian dominionists are seeking absolute power and a Christian state. According to Hedges, the movement bears a strong resemblance to the young fascist movements in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and '30s. - from Democracy Now!

You can read the transcript or listen or watch streaming video.

Scared? You should be. It's not too late but since these people, just like the Nazis, are good at preying on the fears and prejudices of even the most moderate folks, we need to be on our guard and not let them get the upper hand. Everything, Every Damn Thing, I hold dear and believe in they would ban, criminalize, and destroy. They are called dominionists because they believe their god has given them power over everything on Earth.

More is threatened than many of us might realize by the agenda of the dominionist right. It's not simply gays or abortion--the so-called "family agenda" issues--that they are addressing, although these are hot button concerns that they use to mobilize their base. These so-called Christians have adopted a grotesquely nationalist, militarist agenda. They are pushing a brand of politics that is very similar to the classical fascists in terms of deference to powerful leader figures, and extreme reliance on a hierarchal, top-down power-over model. What's at stake is more than just our freedom--as important as that is--but in fact is our very survival. --Mark Haim from the PeaceNook

Nora is cool!

Nora playing a short piece she composed.

biathlon is cool!

It's like cyclocross with skis.

better

Saw the doctor last week and we are now, "cautiously optimistic." Since my knee quit hurting so badly and I have had no further episodes he thinks perhaps I irritated some scar tissue or something. It has been getting better since then. The swelling is less than ever I think and I am able to walk on it with one crutch with no problem. I still use two and try to take it easy on my leg. I want to take it easy on it for a while still and let it heal as best it can (assuming it still is).

About that femur transplant. I asked. It wouldn't be the whole bone. Doc would take a piece from a cadaver matching the area of my femur which needs repair. just a thin peice with bone and cartilage. Not that I want to do that but that doesn't sound so bad as replacing the whole damn bone. Still that would have to be the last resort I think. What if that didn't work either? then what?

In other news...
We have decided to tackle our attention deficit disorder head-on. Bridget's been reading a book on adult ADD and how to organize your life and home. Lots of good tips to retain order and maintain clutter. Those of us with ADD are mentally incapable of maintaining a system of organization. One big thing I have to work on is finding a place for everything. Right now there is so much junk which has no home of any kind except a pile on the dresser or counter or table or...

not so good

Last Monday I went to the gym to ride the stationary bike again and do some leg presses as prescribed in my physical therapy regimen. Great. I had been feeling good and walking with one crutch. Basically on top of the world. The world came crashing down on me after ten minutes on the bike. I developed some pain in my knee which grew progressively worse until Tuesday night. I hardly slept. Went to the doc's Wendesday and he was not optimistic at all. He fears that the catilage patch he put on my leg wasn't healing. That would be Bad. He mentioned "femur transplant." I don't know about you but I am not excited by the idea of replacing my femur because a bit of cartilage is torn off but I guess cartilage is like that; once gone always gone. I'm hoping for some new stem cells to find their way into my leg.

I am supposed to call him again tomorrow and let him know how my knee is doing. Right now I would say it is doing pretty darn good. The excruciating pain I experienced Tuesday night disappeared almost completely and every day there is less. Of course, I haven't ridden and have protected my leg from putting much weight on it. Basically I feel like where I was two or three weeks ago. We'll see what he says tomorrow and Wednesday after I go to see him in person.

The upshot of it all is that it may be a while before I walk let alone ride.

back in the saddle

I rode on one of those fat-saddled computerized "exercise" bikes today. Five minutes, 34 seconds total time. I have permission to ride my bike on the trainer again starting at 12 minutes a day.

rehab begins

Got my new knee brace today and I can start putting weight on my leg. It (the brace) is cool in that it takes the stress off the part of my knee that was really messed up. It actually separates the bones so they don't rub each other. That way I can start regaining some fitness and continue to let my knee heal.

Here is my starting point (sorry, I know it's not pretty). Note the disparity between my right and left legs and even my good leg has shrunk!

global upheaval

See this picture:

The only place in the entire world to not have any forecast change in "horrible things" is Missouri. Sure it'll be hotter but overall not as bad as _______. Time to get prepared for all the refugees who will come to steal our food and homes and women. Start forming militias. Here come the new feudal ages!

masters cyclo-cross world championships

Yo! Check this out.

[Kansas City] Area finishers at the World Masters Cyclocross Championship in Mol, Belgium on Saturday:

Official Results

Mens 35-39: David White, 27th

Womens 40-49: Teresa Jarzemkoski, 9th

Men's 45-49

Mark Thomas: 21st

Dan Hansen: 55th

Bill Anderson: 57th

(Editors note: These finishes are under contention by your own on-the-scene Slimen News Team. They should be listed as Dan 30th and Mark 40th)

Mens 55-59

Dean Parker: 20th

Yet more evidence that the KC cycling scene is more vibrant (if not larger) than the StL scene.

1 more week

Then I start learning to walk again!

olive branches

Christmastime 1989. I was visiting a good friend in Freiburg during my year in Germany. Though I don't recall how she got there, there was an American girl with us in his apartment. I was "entertaining" her and while I don't remember her name and how or where I met her, I do remember she wanted to read each and every day of his daily Far Side calendar for 1990. Much to my friends distress, I humored her since she was female and I was a bachelor seeking companionship (it soon became obvious that once again I was looking in all the wrong places). I ended up escorting her home and leaving her there alone.

Every once in a while I am reminded of my friend's agony at having his entire year read out in advance by this girl and his "friend." Usually it happens when Bridget is upset that someone (we in her family all know better now) reads ahead in one of her daily calendars.

So I sent him a new Far Side daily calendar as a way of making up for this old faux pas.

4 weeks down...two to go!

Needless to say the closest I have been to a bicycle lately is watching the Tom Boonen win the Tour of Flanders on dvd.

I have been somewhat disturbed (but not surprised) by my complete adaptation to being cooped up in the house and on the couch for the past 4 weeks. I seem to be perfectly content to lay on my couch watching television and reading. "Made for TV" you might say. Nevertheless I am looking forward to the day I can move about again without crutches. The ability to carry a plate of food from the kitchen to, say, the couch is something I will never take for granted again. If I knew this injury was permanent I might be more freaked, that is for sure.

Just last night I was laying on the couch with my knee in the CPM last night thinking that even if I don't ever regain use of my leg and lose my job and house and have to go on welfare I would feel really happy because I have such a great family. My kids are the greatest and I know that when they grow up and are rich and famous they will take their ol' Da and Mum in off the street.

riding again

Went on a great ride this afternoon. A bit chilly at first but with the gorgeous sunshine that didn't last long. Explored the roads off of M west of Ashland down toward the river. Needless to say this was a gravel road ride. It was nice to be back out after the holidays when I didn't get out on the bike much. The hills sure didn't get any less steep during the same time! Damn there are some steepies out there!

three weeks down...three to go

Then I hope to start walking and eventually riding again.