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!