Summer Morning Ride

All week long I've been subjected to forced sweating to accommodate archaic business dress requirements.

 The forecast for today was 102°. I've wanted to ride my bike for a while but have been denied by home projects and unhealthy weather. This morning I left the house on "Roadie" at 6:30 AM. It was already a dripping 86°. I put a Gatorade in my bottle holder and headed out the lane. Halfway down the lane I shifted the front derailleur to the big ring and the chain immediately went completely off and wrapped around my right crank. I put it back on but my hand was then covered with black grease. I road back to the house to clean up and put some paper towels in my bag. The more I ride, I realize that I need to get better at bicycle maintenance and have the proper tools and parts with me in the event of a breakdown away from home. Right now my only plan is a cell phone to call Irma to come and get me. Not very self sufficient.

"Let's try this again", I said to myself as I headed down the lane. Even though it was already hot, once I got moving the air over my body made it feel pretty nice and the sun wasn't up enough yet to be that hot.
The roads were typically empty for a Saturday morning and I got a feeling of satisfaction knowing that I had battled the pull of the bed when the alarm went off an was now enjoying my reward. I rode down my quiet familiar country roads, enjoying the sights, smells and sounds of a summer morning.

Despite the morning haze, the sun over the dry corn field announced it's intentions for the rest of the day.

Every field irrigation I passed was running, as if in a battle of taunts with the sun over the fate of the crop in the field. I was tempted to ride through the manufactured "rain" falling on the road but I wasn't that hot yet and decided to wait for the sprinkler to turn before proceeding.

Today I had in mind to extend my ride across 544 and down to Union Church Road, adding another 4 miles to my 11 mile route. In my younger days I could ride 50 miles after school in blue jeans and not give it a second thought. Now I'm trying to gradually build up my endurance and acclimate my knees to longer mileage rides. I have big plans for myself. A weekend bike packing trip this fall with my son, and hopefully someday riding out west. My dream ride is the Colorado Trail, 500 miles from Denver to Durango. Some day, and not when it's 100° out.

But today, I was sweating for a good cause.

Irma's Law of Real Project Time

When it comes to projects around the home, my wife has a law that she always applies.
Real project time expenditure = mean estimated time X 5
Estimate how long it will take me, and then multiply by 5. Whether it's fixing a leaking pipe, or remodeling a whole room, her calculation has never been wrong. The unfailing accuracy of the law could be because I'm just initially optimistic about the time involved. But everyone who knows me would never acquiesce to that claim. More likely the reason is that I'm a perfectionist "Jack of all Trades" which seems to make me a living paradox.

When the remaining bit of copper plumbing in our house started to leak a few months ago, I knew it wouldn't be too long before I would be replacing it. And so it goes with these small repairs, one day you start replacing a copper pipe, and one thing leads to another and you're remodeling the bathroom and getting staples in your head.

Since the plumbing ran up into the attic and down, I replaced it with Pex which I could fish up through the wall. I had to cut some drywall out of the bathroom to make the proper connections. Then re-drywall, patch and paint.

I got to thinking that the old linoleum needed to be replaced, might as well while I had the vanity and toilet out, right? But then discovered that the subfloor was bad also. Here is the new underlayment with holes and joints patched. Red beer cups make great toilet drain plugs.

I decided to try the new "Sharkbite" fittings to connect the Pex to the CPVC. I hope they are as good as the guys at Home Depot report them to be.

So if you ever wonder why I haven't posted anything to my blog in a while, it's probably because I'm working my way down my endless list of needed repairs. At a slow pace of course, perfection takes time. 

Commissioned by the best

Last Friday a friend and former employee of mine, Erickson, invited me to his commissioning ceremony. He was being commissioned as an Ensign in the US Navy by his now "boss", Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii. For those of you that aren't familiar with Senator Inouye, he is a living legend. Recipient of the Medal of Honor and longest standing current Senator. You can read all about him on Wikipedia. 

Erickson's story is also a testament to the opportunity that this country provides for those who work hard to achieve a dream. Here he is taking the oath from the Senator with his daughter holding the bible.

I got a chance to introduce myself to Senator Inouye. He is a man of great accomplishment but also unassuming and modest. When I remarked about his excellent service to our country, his reluctant acknowledgment of my praise made clear the quality of his character.

It was a privilege to meet such a fine Statesman and public servant.

Blogging Hiatus

Ok, I know I haven't posted anything in a long time. Consider it a dry spell, writers block or just lack of doing anything really blog worthy. When we got back from Georgia, I had a bunch of house projects hanging that I had to tackle. The old copper pipe section that I hadn't replaced yet started leaking again, this time not to be patched or denied. Unfortunately the lines run from the basement up into the attic and then down to the powder room, so the project was larger than the inconvenience would have suggested. Last weekend I worked for 12 hours straight and almost had it licked, with just some pipe bracing to do in the attic and then connect the pex to the cpvc in the basement. So with high hopes on July 4th, I headed to the attic for the final mission. I was feeling good and getting a little careless when coming down out of the attic and that's when bad stuff happens. My bad was when unstoppable force (rammy me) met unmovable object (sharp cut 2X4 brace) and the result was a blow to my head and a gash that started bleeding pretty badly. I put enough pressure on it to get the bleeding stopped and Irma took me to the hospital.

Patched up with 17 blingfabulous staples.

This weekend.....I'm putting on my bike helmet, going up to the attic, cutting that hazard down and ceremoniously burning it in the back yard.

Hopefully I won't hurt myself in the process.