Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Made it two days in a row

I rode to work again yesterday. But the streak stops at two. I have to go to Lexington today for work. I will be back at it tomorrow though.

Monday, August 24, 2009

At least it is related to bikes

After promising sometime last year, I finally painted my 9 year old's bike this past week. I promised her that if she moved up from the little bike, I would paint it any rattle can color she chose. She really has a hard time letting go of things so I had to do something to sweeten the pot. She could barely fit on the old one.

So, I finally got around to going to the spray paint section of the store with her and she picked out semi gloss white. This is the third bike I have spray painted and I am getting better at it. By the time I do the next one, I should have a system down. I learned the big lesson of not sanding clear coat with anything rougher than 1000 grit. Also, painting when it is not 25 degrees out makes a difference, just in case that was not obvious to you.

Also, I rode to work today.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Three days (I hate to be alive)

Just kidding about the hating to be alive. It just reminded me of that KD Lang song when I typed three days. I have now ridden to work three days in a row. I totally rock.

BTW-The missus and I celebrate 15 years of bledded wiss today. Yeah for us!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

It has only been a month

Well, I finally rode to work again yesterday. That brings me to a once a month average for the last two months. Boy am I feeling strong. But, there is hope. It is not supposed to rain today or tomorrow so I may get the average up to twice a month.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Holy Cow

I did it. I rode to work today. I feel a bit tired from being sick but it was nice to break the ice.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

I need to ride

I have not ridden since the big Louisville Cobblestone ride. I have plenty of excuses, but mostly I have not been interested. The rain, no doubt, has played a big part, but even the few nice days saw me in the car or on the motorcycle. My weekends have been mostly filled with working on the house. Today, I woke up with some nasty bug that the kids have already had and I had exactly enough energy to go to work, take two calls, complete an audit response and come home to go to bed. When I lick this funk, I am going to start riding again.

No, seriously!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The Bigs are in town

This is a big week at work. The bigs are all gathered in Berea for some much needed discussions. As such, there is very little time available for much else. It should pay off though. It is amazing how much more can be accomplished when everyone is gathered together instead of spread across the country.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Good Times!

I finally managed to get up to Louisville for a ride with the RCCC. A good time was had by most, if not all. Of course, the rain cleared out right when we were done. The inevitable process of trying to figure out how I can move back to Louisville will now begin to play itself out over the next two weeks. The difference is that this time I rode a bike in Louisville. There is something about getting around that part of the city that is very attractive.

I am looking at dates in early June to host a Berea ride. I thinking of calling it The First Annual Head for the Hills and then drink cheap beer and eat burgers at Andy's House Ride". I am still working on that though as it does not exactly roll off the tongue.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Been feeling pretty good lately

Funny how I don't post much when I have been feeling good. I think there is a pattern here.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Wrecking sucks

It sucks even worse when you are getting old...

I had a slow speed wreck on my Suzuki Bandit last week. The details are not very interesting. Basically, I just fell off with a little help from some front wheel slippage at about 10mph. I broke a few things off of the motorcycle and scratched up some plastic (looks like a naked streetfighter is in my future). But I also dinged myself up a little.

Now, I have to say, that the level of violence I experienced in this wreck was tiny in comparison to several bicycle wrecks I have had. I have wrecked into trees at the bottom of a downhill. I have been over the bars on road and off. I have slid 10 feet across the pavement. I once almost ripped my nose off. And, once, I actually had to force myself not to cry when I landed so incredibly hard on my thigh that I thought I broke the bone (no, I did not force myself not to cry because I thought it was too sissy. I did not because I was by myself, several miles from the road and I was afraid that if I started crying I would just give in and lay there). Each of those times, though, I was back riding the next day.

But, this time, while basically falling down off the motorcycle, I am in pain nearly a week later. I mean, I did not even slide enough on the pavement to fray my wool sweater. Yet, somehow, the road rash on my pinkie is threatening to be infected and my ribs still hurt. Or, to be specific, one rib hurts where is connects to my sternum and my spine. I have had painful ribs before. I have had road rash before. But, usually those involve some tale of glory. You know, something like trying to dive inside on a corner and being forced over. Or hitting a hidden patch of gravel on a logging road after cleaning a jump on a downhill.

Alas, a cool story is not the fate of the 4o and over crowd. We just get pain for little falls.

Friday, February 13, 2009

My latest obsession

You know, I guess some call it research but I prefer to think of it as obsessing. I tend to go a bit overboard with learning about things that interest me. Sometimes it generates practical knowledge, such as when I figure out how to fix something for cheap and sometimes it is useless information, such as politics.

Lately, my main obsession has been learning about my Goldwing. It has followed a pretty typical path. I found a million websites with great information, tried to digest it all and, by now, have narrowed it down to five or six sites that I like. If you think there is a lot of information about bikes on the internet, you should see what there is about Goldwings. It is pretty incredible.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

And I am back

I know everyone was waiting for my return...

My last post was such a downer that I feel compelled to post again. Since my last post, I have been to DC to discuss and plan the new position and I am feeling much better about it for a few reasons. I have decided to accept it.

1) If I did not take it, I do not think we would fill it. So I would have ended up with many of the responsibilities but no chance at extra money or the title change. The title change starts Monday but no word on the salary.

2) It really is a good opportunity. The chance to advance does not happen everyday and if they eventually hired someone I could not work with, I would kick myself for not taking it.

3) I make a pretty good living as it is, so I cannot complain too much in the salary department.

4) Four people who I trust said that they would do all the could to get me an additional salary piece. That kind of support, even if ultimately successful, is hard to turn down and awfully inspiring.

So, here we go. The new job officially starts Monday, but the transition started a week or so ago.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Been a while

Since the last time I posted, I bought a new-to-me bike. Not that kind of bike. A 1983 GoldWing Interstate. I have always wanted to try a full blown touring bike and this was a cheap way to check it out. So far, I love it. I rode it around last weekend in 35 degree weather and the fairing kept me well protected from the wind. No complaints from me on that. We shall see if I continue to like it better than my Bandit. The good-wife says I can keep both, but I think I would be more comfortable with just one. The fact that I was able to quickly stow my lunch and my laptop bag in one of the saddlebags this morning is definitely a plus for the GoldWing.

On a less satisfactory note, my boss is transfering to a different department at work. This is no surprise as she has wanted to make a move for a while. The new position is a step toward her ultimate career goal, so it is good for that reason. On the downside, I really like working for her. She is an excellent supervisor. On the downright shitty side, after much back and forth about whether or not we were going to replace her (what with the bad economy and all) the decision was made today to go ahead and replace her. I was invited to do it in the interim with an eye toward moving into it permanently. Why is that shitty? Because about an hour ago, a mass email went out from the COO announcing that all raises not already in the pipeline are put on hold. Boy does that motivate me to take on a significant amount of additional responsibility. Woo-fucking-Hoo! Three new additional direct reports and responsibility for acheiving all of our goals. The best part is that if I do not accept the position, they will hire someone in from the outside who will immediately start making the money that I would not get. So, someone who has no idea of what we do or the inner workings of the day-to-day operations would get paid more than I would. Brilliant! Of course, I would get the pleasure of training this person if I do not take it. Sounds like a real lose-lose opportunity for me. Welcome to the world of shit not making sense.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

The 80's

Does everybody else think about Jovan Musk when they think of the 80's? I know I do. There was nothing quite so painful as splashing a little Jovan Musk on a freshly shaven face. Especially when that face was too young to need a shave. For some reason, I thought the smell was worth the pain.

Thankfully I had a college roommate who wore English Leather. At least I know for a fact that I did not wear the worst smelling stuff ever made.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Getting older

Generally speaking, I don't spend a lot of time fretting about growing old as I figure that getting old beats the alternative. When I was in my mid 20's I read that 40 was the old age of youth and the youth of old age. For some reason that little bit of wisdom stuck with me. The opportunity to test that hypothesis finally arrived in 2008 as I turned 40. I was in Memphis for a regional meeting for work. Coincidentally, my birthday fell on the night when we had decided to go to Beale Street. I made it through the meeting and the meal at the restaurant without revealing it was my birthday. I did not want to find out whatever stupid and embarrassing thing they did to celebrate birthdays.

On the way to the bars (did I mention I love blues), I admitted it was my birthday because I figured it would lead to a few free beers. It so happened that the best band I have heard in Memphis, Delta Highway, was playing at the Blues Room. I really like the folks I work with and they proceeded to buy me more than a few beers while some great live blues was going on. I really could not ask for a better birthday. At that point, I was enjoying the youth part of being 40. The next morning, though, I was definitely feeling the old age part. 40 plus 1 day was a hell of a lot harder than 40 was.

Overall getting older is a mixed bag with more positives than negatives. So far, I put the changes I have experienced in three categories. Physical changes to lament, physical changes to observe and mental/emotional changes.

In the physical changes to lament, I put things such as waking up nearly every morning with a stiff right ankle. It works out within a few minutes but it makes for some precarious first steps when I am still a bit woozy. Throw in a dog laying in the floor of a dark room and it can make for some less than satisfactory waking moments. I wish I could blame back pain on getting older but, alas, that has been a problem since my 20's.

Hair is the largest part of the changes to observe. For the most part, it is moving around. I can't complain too much about going bald. It is happening, but slowly. Like most men, I expected to grow some hair on my back, and sure enough, it has happened. I am happy to report that I don't even come close to looking like Dirty Dutch Mantell so I can deal with it. What I did not expect, though, was that my eyebrows would start growing like crazy or that I would start to grow ear hair. The ear hair has remained thin and mostly unnoticeable. But, the eyebrow hair is a bit out of control. If you spent the 80's watching TV in Louisville, you probably remember Dinwiddie Lampton, JR. He sold something (insurance?) in commercials but the thing I remember the most was making fun of his incredibly bushy eyebrows. I am heading toward Dinwiddie Lampton, JR territory. Still, I consider this, for the most part, amusing. It certainly beats a stiff ankle.

On the mental/emotional front, I am generally happy with the changes. The two biggest positives are being more patient with my children and being more honest with myself. Patience has never been a strong point for me but children require patience. I still have work to do on this, but it is nice to make progress. Just this weekend my soon to be 13 year old daughter actually thanked me for something. That is priceless.

Lately, being honest with myself has meant taking a serious look at my work. I work for a terrific charity. I completely agree with the mission and I think we do a great job of demanding accountability from ourselves and our partners. I have a great boss and I have great people working for me. I make a good living as well. Everything should be great but lately I have begun to admit to myself that I am not enjoying my job. This long vacation break I am finishing up has helped me to realize this. I am not looking forward to returning tomorrow.

This is difficult for me to admit because of everything I said above. How do you walk away from a job that has all those advantages? I have realized that you do it by being honest with yourself. I know this could come off as whining. I should be happy to have a job in this economy and I will say that I am appreciative. This has lead me to the following thoughts, though-

I will make a change in my employment in 2009. The best case scenario is a transfer to a new position within the agency I work for. As noted, there are lots of great reasons to work there, I just want to spend my time on other things. I have at least two opportunities to make a change in the next few months so hopefully, those will work out. If not, I will look at other opportunities.

My wife and I made huge progress in 2008 paying down debt. We paid off stupid credit card debt, student loan debt and vehicle debt. Every bit of her salary went to pay off debt. Now we only have our mortgage and that is much smaller than what most folks have to pay. It feels great and I can only imagine how much better it will feel to be completely out of debt. For 2009, we want to build a nice savings cushion and then start hammering at the mortgage. We would like to pay it off by mid 2010. The fact that I am not thrilled with my job right now plays into this because once we are debt free, we can more easily pick and choose what we want to do with our time. I am really looking forward to that possibility and I plan to write more about this over the next year.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Not exactly a New Year's Resolution

I went to my doctor for a check up back in October and learned that even though I am taking a blood pressure medication, my blood pressure is still high. I had also managed to pack on a few more pounds for a new personal best of 239 lbs (I was wearing heavy hiking boots, but that is beside the point). Now I am taking two blood pressure medications.

I knew I needed more exercise and I needed to lose weight. With three bikes, I really do not have a legitimate excuse, but I have an, uh, illegitimate excuse. My bike riding has been limited due to back pain, but, honestly, I ride because I like it, not for exercise. If I get it in my head that I have to ride for exercise, I lose interest in riding. So, I decided to get an elliptical trainer for the house.

I was able to get one last night. It was not based on a New Year's Resolution. It is more like an October Resolution delayed. With payday and Christmas bills getting settled, I was finally able to put my resolution in play. I spent my New Year's Eve putting together the machine.

This morning, before I jumped on the elliptical for my first voyage, I weighed in at 227 in shorts and a T-shirt. My stomach measured out at 44" around my belly button. My plan is to check in on the first of every month to chart my progress. I will be hitting the elliptical every morning before I head to work. That frees me up to ride on days when I want to and drive on days when the weather is crappy or I have to go somewhere immediately after work (it is amazing how many times a week my daughter's high school band requires me to be somewhere right after work).