Equal Time!

It was a cold wet commute coming home tonight. The sun had long set so it was night-dark even though it was still in the thick of rush hour. I take to the left lane to make a left turn, lit up like a christmas tree as I always am for my darkness commutes. Traffic is slow so I just merge into the left lane but I miss the light so I am stopped waiting in the rain for the light to change when a guy in a pick up rolls his window down and and says, "Be safe!" while giving me a thumbs up.

(thanks PhotoBucket!)

There are two sides to every coin and this guy totally made my Friday commute and restored my faith in human kindness and set my weekend off on a pretty good note. I had almost ten miles yet to go in the steadily increasing rain but I smiled with every turn of the cranks. It's easy to whine about the morons but isn't it really the random acts of kindness that keep the whole thing stitched together?

Bucolic Parkway

I have, as part of my commute, a bucolic little parkway that many moron drivers use as a high speed shortcut from the Hiawatha corridor.

I've

screamed and been screamed at,

flipped off and been flipped off,

banged on windows,

doors,

fenders

(and anything else I could reach)

been driven off the road by

people passing way too close,

people driving up onto the grass

(one guy telling me he won't be that nice next time)

people swerving over at me from the oncoming lane

(generally telling me to get the $%^&* off the road)

So

After too many morons drivers have put my life at risk, I have surrendered to the bike path for this section.

It has a 10 mph speed limit and during warmer weather is filled with

dogs stretching their leashes across the bike path,

meandering baby stroller pushers,

squeaky cruisers wobbling from side to side,

occasional punk clusters practicing their rudeness skills

(they're already rude enough and don't need more practice)

As annoying as these all are, none of them are as likely to kill me as the pea-brained cagers who seem confused between the terms Parkway and Raceway.

The good part is that all the fair-weather path users have abandoned the path so I generally have it to myself except for the occasional fellow commuter refugees who all nod knowingly.

Who has time for this?

I face this sign every day in the locker room at work.

 

I don't leave things in the locker room but damn if you've gotta spend two whole weeks contacting Facilities to get your stuff back.

Tomorrow will be a good day

I'm pretty sure about it since all the suckageness that I can imagine landed on today. It started with forgetting my badge and having the regular security guard out and his replacement didn't quite get the routine so I spent ten minutes just trying to start on what would be 11 hours of contorted effort into which I needed to pack about 40 hours of productive time. Needless to say, I left some work undone and will have to get in early tomorrow to have any hope of not repeating todays carnage.

When I get home I can count on some serious quality time since I have the honor of living with the sweetest lady on the face of the earth. I contemplated, fantasized about the relaxing evening waiting for me. Cocktail in one hand and nothing to do but kick back until sleep overwhelmed me, something I suspected wouldn't take long.

However...I have this wonderful dog.



Really, he's a great pooch. Well trained, sensible, predicable and pretty much lives his life with the most optimism of any creature I have ever known. Lovely to come home to after fighting the corporate fight since every day for him is a great day. But he is still a dog and today he demonstrated in exemplary style what the statement 'sicker than a dog' really means.

I used to train dogs with the same vigor I turn the cranks and had a house full of them. I know what can go wrong and what a sick dog is like to come home to but today that was totally redefined even though he is the only dog in the house. I'll spare you the details but let's just say that if I had hired a painter to paint the basement floor, I would have been quite please with how thoroughly he had covered the floor down to every single nook and cranny. Places, in fact, that I didn't know existed.

I just wanted to come home to my nothing box. Instead, it was several hours of something I never want to do.

SO, with all the action packed into today, I just know tomorrow will be a good day.

Single track repose

Still basking in the glow of three days riding some of the finest single-track courtesy of CAMBA and their work in the Chequamegon National Forest.



The temps were chilly but the friendship was warm and I know how to dress so the cold doesn't set me back even when my toes get a little cold.

Back to regular programming...

Yes, I was bored and thought it might be fun to crank up my stats like someone once said they accidently did with a similar post title. My faith in the on-line search world was somewhat restored as my hit count actually went down with that last post.

There was of course no sex graphic or otherwise in that post. I don't care what folks do with their on-line time but I do think that porn shouldn't come to you in your daily travels unless you travel the porn circuit in which case you would likely not be here reading this. Anyway, it was a cheap ploy for traffic that failed so perhaps not only is the internet here to stay, but there might be less porn surfing than I heard talking heads declare.

This post makes a lot of sense to me.

Graphic Pictorial Bicycle Sex

Was it good for you?

Random Thoughts

It's the weekend in a long week of short goals. Long stretches of limited production followed by multiple deadlines collapsing on a single day. Not all deadlines met but those that were exceeded expectation and the Arkel pannier carries the laptop to and from quite well so no worries.

I started running a few weeks ago, a fall tradition as I attempt to get in shape for the cross country ski season. It starts with a week of great soreness from short runs followed by a week of seeming invincibility. No more agonizing pain in legs that can turn the cranks seemingly indefinitely but are turned to masses of screaming flesh by a short, brisk run towed by the pooch in my own canicross competition. The week of invincible exercise turns into overwhelming exhaustion as my body adapts to the new regimen.

I started thinking a few months back, an employment tradition as I attempt to get into shape for the next level in my career. It starts with great confusion from simple thoughts followed by months of apparently flawless thinking. No more awkward thought gathering from a brain that can seemingly crank out analytical models indefinitely but is turned to a quivering mass of sparking synapses by a situation infected with contradictory truths. The months of of flawless execution turn into overwhelming exhaustion as my brain adapts to the new regimen.

I started feeling a few decades back, a life tradition as I attempt to get in shape for experiencing the world around me. It starts with an introspection on the unchangeable past followed by the realization that I can respond as I choose to the life events that cross my path. No more second guessing choices from a diverse emotional base that can rise to the most dire life situation but turns to a whimpering soul by a lost opportunity. The years of satisfied conscience turn into overwhelming exhaustion as my emotions adapt to the new regimen.

It's the weekend in a short life of long goals. Long stretches of seeking followed by a dizzying array of life choices, realized in a single life. Not all ambitions took root but the wealth of life lived so far has exceeded expectations and my satchel of life carries boundless dreams with no room for worries.

Busy

What was I saying?...

It's Time for Health Care Reform

The government is run by those who show up. It's time the real cross section of America shows up to be counted and dispel the twisted image being crafted by the Republicans and Fox News (oops, that's redundant...).

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