There's no time for blogging!

Well, apparently there is..a little. December is always too busy. Holiday preparations, house projects and the annual leaf removal all occur between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Add to that a few doggie incidents......

This is General Patton. Isn't he adorable? 

After being sprayed by a skunk......not so much.

So Friday night, by the ambient glow of car headlights, I was scrubbing "The General" in the back yard with a mixture of peroxide, baking soda and dish-washing detergent. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and apply fo-fo dog  shampoo, the tropical botanical one that makes your pet smell like a French whore. Not that I know what a French whore smells like, it's just a fitting descriptive. After a thorough rinsing...he just smelled like wet dog. I knew then that the skunk stink was vanquished! Meh.....not entirely....Saturday morning I was laying in bed before getting up, and he came in and laid on the floor for his morning petting...I rolled over on my stomach and put my head over the side of the bed, reached an arm out to provide some morning love, and Pheeww!

Still a little stinky he was. Nothing like a little skunk to get your feet on the cold floor in the morning. Patton, I said, you'll just have to air out today. We've got lots of leaves to blow off the yard.

That was our main project for the weekend, we have about 2 full acres of grass (read weeds) that we have to clear of leaves generated by 15 or 90 really large oak trees. This used to be a fall project extraordinaire, a memory that our kids will never forgive us for, as they were involved in the annual slow torture by leaf rake every year. Until I discovered "Big Windy"....400 mph of Honda driven breeziness! Rent this thing for 60 bucks a day and get the yard cleared in so much time. Sorry guys, I honestly didn't know "Big Windy" existed until a few years ago.

Irma loves it. Once she starts, she won't let it go. She won't even stop for water or to go to the bathroom. She asked for one for Christmas. I'm relegated to shoveling leaves into the tarp and dragging them into the woods. Which is admittedly something I should be doing, not her.

Sunday we completed more projects, some of them Christmas related.

The General had another animal adventure. I didn't get any pictures but he was barking like crazy and I looked out the window to see him chasing a fat raccoon around my car. The raccoon would turn and hiss and snarl at him and he would back off and then go after it again. I quickly called him in before he got bit, raccoons wandering across the yard in the middle of the day are not normal.

But the tree is up, the lights are on, and the view in from the front yard is festive!

Merry Christmas!

The making of a holiday tradition

Who can resist a really good holiday tradition.

The wonderful Christmas Sweater Picture
(what is that thing in her lap? A weasel?)

The annual torturing of the department store Santa.

A heart warming movie...

Who can resist a tug on the heart strings by a ZuZu Petal?

And the one kids love and mother's loathe:

A Christmas Story!

So you can imagine my joy to find out that my town...Chestertown, MD.....made the news, national news....even world news....with a new annual holiday tradition...wait for it......

Frosty gets arrested!

Apparently Frosty the Snowman, or human costumed likeness there-of, has been appearing at the annual Chestertown Christmas parade for 10 years now. Only this year he was not his same jovial self.

And Santa will tell you, harassing the local authorities police K-9 will land you in a serious greenhouse of melting pain.

Let's hope there's some jail break magic left in that old silk hat!

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

I'm thankful for my family and the great time we all had together. The only thing that would have made it better is if Ben and Emily were here. And of course, aren't we all thankful for the freedom's we have here in the US, like the ability to eat gargantuan quantities of tryptophan laced foods and then pass out in front of a football game. Ah...the holiday traditions!

A beautiful day was a good opportunity for a group picture.
L-R Jared, Lisa, Cathy, Clare, Irma, Carl (Me)

Front row Patton and Reilly

Anticipation of a good chuckering.

The ever hopeful Reilly, always ready for exercise 24-7.

And what better way to work off some of the holiday excess than to take a good ride. 7:00 AM Friday.
It was cold out! Sometimes the best time to ride is first thing in the morning.

Mother of all projects (2)

If your came here looking for my latest cycling post amusing goodness, you can find it here. Otherwise read on for update #2 on the Mother of all Projects!

If I ever needed an alternate career, home remodeling would not be it. I'm too much of a perfectionist and thusly, too slow. The drywall guy is done and I found myself adding additional drywall screws because I considered him to have been a wee bit skimpy with the fasteners. Just around the bottom close to the floor, but it still added some extra time to the project.

Over-all, he did a good job and completed my most loathed home renovation task at minimal cost.

He butted the drywall to the Hardibacker cement board I installed as tub walls and feathered the joint compound into the hardibacker. The idea is that after the Kerdi membrane and tile is installed, the difference in the planes of the 2 surfaces won't be noticeable. For those of you used to remodeling, you know that what you buy aint always what you get. A 2X4 is not 2X4. ½" drywall is ½" but ½" Hardibacker is .42". Now go figure.

The Hardibacker should be brought down to rest on the tub wall flange, not lapped over it. Then when the tile is installed make sure to spread the thinset down over the flange and bring the tile to the tub deck.

Next up: prime and paint the drywall.

Stay tuned for further updates....

Protest Ride!

Political gridlock has been a way of life in Washington for some time. We have come to expect total inaction, and our elected legislators certainly don't disappoint. Even the the self imposed sword of Damocles can't move the super committee's collective, do nothing asses off the seat of political stagnation. So how am I going to support the protesters on Wall Street?

Occupy the Bike!

What better way to show my solidarity with the occupy movement from little old Chestertown! I thought about camping out in the town square with a sign that says "Occupy Chestertown" or maybe "Rage against The Man". But then I remembered that I work for "The Man". So maybe that's not the best idea considering I have a mortgage, bills and lots of bike gear on my wish list.

But heading out for a good head clearing ride certainly made me feel better physically and emotionally.

Biking down a country road in the late day light and gazing across the farm fields helps me keep my perspective.

With twilight closing in, it's time to pump hard towards home.

After all, I have to catch a bus for Washington, DC in the morning.

I wasn't made to sit.....

....so I got up and took a walk. Outside, on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon, when I should have been answering emails and supervising staff. But I had been doing that since 8:00 AM after sitting on the bus for 75 minutes which came after sitting in my car for 30 minutes. This lifestyle is my own choice and that of many others. It seems that salary is directly proportional to the sedentary nature of the job. The more you move, the less you make. And our bodies were designed to move. Of course technology hasn't helped resolve this issue.

So I have to take the time to move, to get out. And even in the city, there are rewards waiting.

One day I will get paid to ride my bike and travel to the mountains. 

I won't get paid much, but that's fine with me.

Once around the block...

Ok, it was a big block. 20.1 miles to be exact.

The weather was a perfect 55°. In this kind of weather, it's hard to know how to dress. Standing in the driveway you feel warm, but start bombing down a hill at 30 mph and all of a sudden it's winter in Quebec.
I love to bike, any day, any weather. The only downside is it makes me think about how much money I need to spend on gear that I don't have. Fortunately Tyler has a bike computer to keep track of speed and mileage. Previously if I wanted to know how far I rode, I would either have to guess or drive the same route in my car, which is admittedly ridiculous.

Tyler with Crisanna Carrera, his Italian wheels. A bike he built himself with Campagnolo parts.
SuWEEET!

The Eastern Shore of Maryland is big and open. The big sky country of the east. And the roads are great for biking with wide shoulders.

Nothing compliments a picture like circle irrigation!

Greetings from the Eastern Shore of Maryland!

I had a destination.....

It was cool and sunny as I headed out the lane. I was dressed for a cool day wind chill, enough bike wear to stay warm but not so much as to appear dorky. 

I headed to Chestertown, happy to have a different destination for a change.

One of the reasons I don't head north towards town is this bridge, you have to walk your bike across instead of ride. Looking south, almost across.

From the bridge, you do get a good look at the river, with the old sailing ships, the one in the foreground is a reproduction of the Sultana, made in the old shipbuilding way. Not a bad view for every day.

So like I said, I had a destination, but sometimes you just have to follow where the bike and the mood takes you. I headed through town and right out the other side. Into farm country. The sun was glistening off the ripe soybean fields. Ready for harvest.

At last, I made it to Pomona. About 5 miles west of Chestertown. The sun was starting to drop and I decide I should turn around, especially since I hadn't reached my destination yet.

On the way back to town, this is looking east up the Chester river. In the distance that's the bridge I walked across. What a view! But on to my destination.

Made it at last. The ATM in town. I needed cash.

Sometimes getting there is all the fun!

What's your bike's name?

Mine is named "Roadie", but the more I blog read, the more I realize that Roadie is not very original. 

I had a text conversation with my son about it.

          Tyler:    I like how you named your bike "Roadie"

          Me:      Thanks

          Tyler:   Can you send my bike tools up with Mom? Crisanna is in dire need of an overhaul.

          Me:     Which one is Crisanna?

          Tyler:   Crisanna Carrera is her full name.

          Me:      I haven't been able to determine Roadie's gender yet.

          Tyler:   Would you want to ride a male?

          Me:     Well no, but would Mom want me to ride a female? It's a predicament.

          Tyler:   Would Mom really have to be jealous of a bicycle?

          Me:     Your arguments are compelling. Did you already go through this with Morgan?

          Tyler:   Well, to be fair, I knew Crisanna long before I met Morgan.

Return from Blogcation - 4 weeks in Pictures and Thoughts

Hey, I'm back from a 4 week Blogcation!

Feeling somewhat refreshed and slightly inspired. Especially excited about the cooler weather and all the fall goodness in the air. So I thought I'd post some random pictures and thoughts from the past 4 weeks to catch everyone up on various stuff that you may or may not find interesting.

I work in DC. The other Monday I felt the blahs creeping in so I went for a walk around the Capitol Building. It really is impressive. Wish I could say the same for how much our elected members are accomplishing.

I walk by this every day. At first they were tearing it down. When they got it down to just the concrete structure, they started building it back up, adding 3 additional floors to the top. One day I stopped and talked to a foreman. He said it was going to be law offices. They wanted a penthouse suite at the top so they could see all the DC landmarks. It also happens to be just a short 2 block walk from Capitol Hill.

Just noticing stuff, you draw your own conclusions.

Regarding the Mother of all Projects - the shower fixtures are roughed in. The drywall guy is here.
Irma is HAPPY!

The other day there were wild turkeys in our backyard. Wanted to get a better picture but I knew they would scatter as soon as I stepped outside. Hey you turkeys...eat as many crickets as you want! You're welcome anytime! Can't see this living in the city.

General Patton has a cone. He's such a good sport!

If you want to really experience fall....take a bike ride. If you want to really experience the world around you...take a bike ride.

I find that dark sunglasses are a slight improvement to the Coleman Cooler helmet look.
Or am I just happier that I'm harder to recognize?

This is a black grave yard. There are many of them on the Eastern Shore. Either slaves or poor share croppers couldn't afford a burial plot at a cemetery, so they made their own. Often right along rural roads.

I have known this was there ever since we moved here. It was always overgrown. I rode by on my bike and noticed that someone had cleaned it up that day. I'm not sure if the good Samaritan was actually related or just providing some long deserved respect.

I thought it was raining.....

....but it was bugs! Hitting my face as I rode. I squinted and kept my mouth shut. I pedaled on, churning through the hatch. They came in waves, like miniature kamikazes of unintended accuracy. When I cleared the trees they thinned out and I was able to open my eyes, straighten up and catch a breath of relief.

This would be the sixth consecutive cloudy day threatening more rain. I went anyway, I didn't care if it started raining. I wanted a good ride, bugs and whatever else may come my way.

So far my 55 year old knees have held up pretty well to my increased mileage. I am consistently doing 15 milers, which might not seem like a lot. Not too many years ago riding 5 miles would result in days of knee pain, so I think I'm doing pretty well. My goal is to work my way up to 25 and then 50 pain free miles in a day. This fall I'm planning a bike camping trip with my son so I need to keep moving.

One of these days I'm going to buy a $150 helmet that looks cool. But for now I'll have to be satisfied with my $40 Coleman Cooler Helmet. Hmmm...maybe a goatee would help.

Head Clearing Ride

I'm in serious danger of becoming dull. Every weekend has been spent working on my bathroom remodeling project and you know what they say about all work and no play. So it was again this weekend, handling 40 lb sheets of hardibacker and attaching it to the shower walls. I was forced to quit when my saw blade broke and it was probably a good thing at that. I've been telling myself for 2 weeks that I needed to go for a good bike ride. When I left the project room it was about 3:00. It was still cloudy out, we never got the promised sun and I didn't really feel like going for a ride. I wanted to just sit on the porch or watch football. But my head felt thick and I was working on a good grump as well. I knew I needed a ride.

 At first I felt awkward, almost like I hadn't ridden for months. But then after a few miles I caught my stride. I was facing a pretty stiff headwind, and even though the temperature was in the mid 60's, I was glad I had worm my jacket. As I cranked down the road I was bombarded by signs of fall. Partially harvested fields of dried corn stalks. Dark green fields of soybeans that were showing the first tint of browning off. Weeds mature and tough, ready to belch seeds in every direction. The smell of wood smoke.

Traffic was especially heavy even for my back road route. Occasionally a biker runs into someone who for whatever reason regards them with contempt. Today I was stopped at a remote cross road when a pickup truck full of bushel crab baskets pulled up. The driver stopped and gave me a hateful glare for about 5 seconds, then just drove off. I'm not sure what the source of this contempt is. Does he think I'm going to call my fellow biker friends and take over his back shore turf? Or does he just hate any activity that doesn't involve a boat and a crab or a gun and a deer? I rode on and passed a fellow biker who returned my wave and a smile. We understand.

The clouds were starting to clear a little and so was my head. I rolled home in a better mood.

Sunrise over Kent Narrows

This is the view I get some mornings when I arrive at the park-and-ride to catch the commuter bus to DC. As the days get shorter the sunrise will fade until it is eventually just dark at 6:20 AM. I have noticed that the water of the bay is as muddy as I have ever seen it during my 11 years of commuting over the bridge. A hurricane and a tropical storm on top of already saturated ground has allowed acres of New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland to wash into the bay. Not a good sign for plant and animal species in the bay already under attack. It will be interesting to see how long it takes the course of nature to clear the waters.

12 day recap

Irma and I got home at 10:00 last night after visiting my Aunt and them meeting Greg and Pinky for a nice dinner out. We were checking out a restaurant for Ben and Emily's rehearsal dinner in December. They are getting married December 28th. So that will make 2 years in a row of Christmas weddings. I didn't sleep that well thanks in part to the annual September cricket invasion. Those critters like to party at night. So I got up at 6:00 thinking I'd relax on the couch, but the dogs had other ideas.

We all headed outside into a shroud of thick mist. It was a damp quiet, even Patton couldn't locate a sound to bark at. After the required chuckering, we headed back in. I was looking forward to coffee and some quiet time.

I looked at the calendar and realized that I haven't made any blog posts in 12 days (Sorry Mom).

Truth is, the past 12 days have pretty much just been rain and work. The week after Hurricane Irene, Irma and I spent every night after work cleaning up the tree trash that was all over our 2 acre yard. We started Tuesday and she finished it up with the mowing on Saturday. I got about 50 nasty chigger bites to show for it. I should have doused with bug spray like Irma did.

Then came labor day weekend, and we just labored. All weekend. I spent all three days in the "project room", the bathroom I'm renovating, hanging insulation and sweating.

12 rolls of R-19 later, it's finally done. Almost ready for drywall.

Then came the week of rain. All week it rained....and then it would stop raining...and start pouring. Then when the pouring stopped, it would start raining again. They say tropical storm Lee was to blame for this. But whether you believe it's caused by us humans or not, I say the climate is changing.

So today is Sunday, the start of a new week. I think I'll finish it with a bike ride. If nothing else it will give me something worthy to blog about.

Goodbye Irene

First of all this isn't me. But I give this rider a lot credit for having guts, if not intelligence.

With Marty Bass (local weatherman) beating the calamity drum and three really huge trees within pulverizing distance of our house, we had decided ahead of time that we were going to leave our home and take the dogs and stay at the Holiday Inn Express on Saturday night. HIE gets my vote for their pet friendly policy.  

Around 3:00 PM, the rain was starting to come down in buckets and the wind was picking up.We were finishing up our dinner of pork roast, vegetables and white wine and decided it was time to go. The car was already packed and the dogs jumped in like desperate refugees fleeing an invading army. They knew what was up. We locked the house and left not sure what we would find upon return.

 The HIE was already mostly occupied by other hurricane refugees and their numerous pets. Keeping 2 on edge dogs quiet in a hotel room is not easy but they did pretty well. They had a few barking fits when the people next door banged doors or talked too loudly. Eventually I think our neighbors got the message that quiet dogs resulted from quiet boarders because they stopped banging doors and talking loudly. The Inn lost power about 10:00 PM as we were looking out the window watching the rain blow sideways in pulsing sheets and the trees sway like someone shaking out a big paint brush. I took each dog out for relief separately, resigned to the fact that there was no use trying to stay dry in the process. Then we went to bed.

The light finally pried through the rubber hotel curtains about 6:30 and I looked out to see a gray sky and a stiff wind but no more rain. It was time to venture home to asses the situation. I left Irma to stay with the dogs and headed through town. As I drove I felt more encouraged, finding a few large branches down and even a couple trees but not the widespread destruction that was predicted. Coming down our lane I found the three giant oaks still standing. Tree trash everywhere but no damage. Even the satellite dish was still on the roof. I returned to the hotel and we packed up and headed home. Irma made the observation that all the hurricane did was ruin the weekend. And thankfully that was pretty much what happened.

Sunday afternoon the sun came out and it was a beautiful day.