Good start to the day! Conservative/Libertarian radio commentator, Neal Boortz, read an email of mine on the air this morning. Neal is based out of Atlanta, Georgia and used to have his show broadcast here in Shreveport until the station changed formats. Now I catch him on the streaming broadcast on his website every once in a while. It was based on this STORY. I HAD to comment but I won't tell you which one was mine.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Droppin' some trees
We had a couple of trees taken out of the front yard on Friday. There was one butting up against the driveway which had been slowly moving a slab over the years...about 3.5" over! And it was kinda swallowing the slab, too. We wanted to take it out before it cracked the slab and messed up the sidewalk/walk-up to the front of the house (which I had repaired last year). The other tree was about four feet from the front of the house near the front door. It had a few large branches over the roof which we felt would be a problem some day, especially if we had some high winds or a nice ice storm over the winter.
Working on the "Driveway Tree": The top half of the pine tree is down and you can see the guy at the top. He was wearing a safety belt and had climbing spikes attached to his boots.
This is how you take a very tall tree down, one piece at a time. The worker is about 50 feet up and saws off a 4-foot chunk of the trunk. Then he pushes it off to the ground below where the other guys cut it up into smaller pieces for loading on the flatbed trailer.
Here's what's left of the oak tree that was directly in front of the house. You can barely see the stump to the left of the sidewalk that leads up to the front door. All this wood will be hauled off on Monday. At least we hope it will...maybe Tuesday?
Working on the "Driveway Tree": The top half of the pine tree is down and you can see the guy at the top. He was wearing a safety belt and had climbing spikes attached to his boots.
This is how you take a very tall tree down, one piece at a time. The worker is about 50 feet up and saws off a 4-foot chunk of the trunk. Then he pushes it off to the ground below where the other guys cut it up into smaller pieces for loading on the flatbed trailer.
Here's what's left of the oak tree that was directly in front of the house. You can barely see the stump to the left of the sidewalk that leads up to the front door. All this wood will be hauled off on Monday. At least we hope it will...maybe Tuesday?Sunday, July 12, 2009
What a busy weekend it was
Saturday morning Jonnene and I went out to Cypress Lake to meet up with a bunch of the other local triathletes to go over the course for the River Cities Triathlon coming up on August 2nd. I only planned to ride while she would do a bit of all three events. She spent about 15 minutes max in the water and that was that...one of the other girls said now she remembers why she only swims in Cypress once a year! The water there isn't the greatest in the world yet it is Bossier City's backup water source (let's hope the Red River never runs dry!). Then we went out together to scope out the bike course which is 18.4 miles in length and now has a new bridge on the back side as well as a new section of road being built near the spillway that will shorten the course by 1/10th of a mile. It won't interfere with the triathlon but it'll make for a straighter stretch there next year. There are new sections of asphalt inside the park and at the entrance so the triathletes will love cruising down those sections.
I put in another lap after making a pit stop inside the park. I planned to do a fast up-tempo ride over the course so Jonnene, Daniel, Tony, and a few other guys headed out with me to get that extra lap in. I took off at mile three, keeping the pace at a steady 25-26 mph and soon saw that only Tony was staying with me. It was good to have the company. I charged up the hills trying to keep the pace up and he followed, telling me that I was killing him! I doubted that...Tony is a pretty strong guy...but maybe he wasn't expecting me to take the hills that aggressively and he was just happy to hang on. By the time we got back to the park both of us were sweating heavily. I would end up losing about 4 pounds in water weight...and I was drinking! Nearly emptied both of my bottles! But that's the way it is in hot, humid Louisiana among the pine trees.
Saturday afternoon I stayed around the house doing some small things that needed doing while Jonnene went out to get her hair done, get Sophie (the dog) cleaned, and doing some grocery shopping. Later that night we watched "Taken", a movie we rented starring Liam Neeson and it was an action flick we quite enjoyed. Ate take-out Chinese food, too, from a place nearby that we hadn't tried yet. Yessir, I loves my General Tso's chicken!
Today was more of a work day than a rest day. I spent most of the morning clearing out this semi-circular garden spot next to the house in the back patio. I pulled up all the bushes and wild grass there, shoveled out half the dirt and redistributed it on the back yard where I had pulled up about 72 concrete pavers (that was fun...). We're going to make that spot more of a rock garden, putting in gray river stone with three of the pavers. It'll look a lot better and be a lot less upkeep...I hope. Someday we want to pull up all the brick in the patio and replace it with molded concrete, along with other things we'd like to do back there.
While Jonnene was doing house stuff (things us fellers don't know nuttin' about), I got started with a new setup for putting our bikes in the back of her Rav4. The idea was Jonnene's but I put myself to work on the project, cutting out a huge chuck of outdoor carpeting that fit in the back of the car along with a board that would hold the front forks of our bikes. It'd keep the car clean and keep our bike stuff more organized. So far it looks pretty good...still needs some tweaking but it's going to work out well. Then the two of us went shopping, getting some small shelves that would help move her books from the linen closet to the office closet. We're slowly getting the house the way we want it.
Today's Tour de France stage was anti-climatic. I was expecting lots of fireworks today as the tour was going to tackle the Col du Tourmalet (a 6,900 foot mountain that can break your legs like twigs) but the huge climb didn't change anything in the overall standings, and, except for some exciting downhill-at-60 mph footage, nothing really happened. Armstrong and Contador didn't challenge the current yellow jersey holder (who'll probably keep it the rest of this week, but WILL lose it). I guess they're going to make their serious moves when the peloton goes into the Alps starting this Friday. Monday's a rest day so no Tour TV for me! Sob!
I put in another lap after making a pit stop inside the park. I planned to do a fast up-tempo ride over the course so Jonnene, Daniel, Tony, and a few other guys headed out with me to get that extra lap in. I took off at mile three, keeping the pace at a steady 25-26 mph and soon saw that only Tony was staying with me. It was good to have the company. I charged up the hills trying to keep the pace up and he followed, telling me that I was killing him! I doubted that...Tony is a pretty strong guy...but maybe he wasn't expecting me to take the hills that aggressively and he was just happy to hang on. By the time we got back to the park both of us were sweating heavily. I would end up losing about 4 pounds in water weight...and I was drinking! Nearly emptied both of my bottles! But that's the way it is in hot, humid Louisiana among the pine trees.
Saturday afternoon I stayed around the house doing some small things that needed doing while Jonnene went out to get her hair done, get Sophie (the dog) cleaned, and doing some grocery shopping. Later that night we watched "Taken", a movie we rented starring Liam Neeson and it was an action flick we quite enjoyed. Ate take-out Chinese food, too, from a place nearby that we hadn't tried yet. Yessir, I loves my General Tso's chicken!
Today was more of a work day than a rest day. I spent most of the morning clearing out this semi-circular garden spot next to the house in the back patio. I pulled up all the bushes and wild grass there, shoveled out half the dirt and redistributed it on the back yard where I had pulled up about 72 concrete pavers (that was fun...). We're going to make that spot more of a rock garden, putting in gray river stone with three of the pavers. It'll look a lot better and be a lot less upkeep...I hope. Someday we want to pull up all the brick in the patio and replace it with molded concrete, along with other things we'd like to do back there.
While Jonnene was doing house stuff (things us fellers don't know nuttin' about), I got started with a new setup for putting our bikes in the back of her Rav4. The idea was Jonnene's but I put myself to work on the project, cutting out a huge chuck of outdoor carpeting that fit in the back of the car along with a board that would hold the front forks of our bikes. It'd keep the car clean and keep our bike stuff more organized. So far it looks pretty good...still needs some tweaking but it's going to work out well. Then the two of us went shopping, getting some small shelves that would help move her books from the linen closet to the office closet. We're slowly getting the house the way we want it.
Today's Tour de France stage was anti-climatic. I was expecting lots of fireworks today as the tour was going to tackle the Col du Tourmalet (a 6,900 foot mountain that can break your legs like twigs) but the huge climb didn't change anything in the overall standings, and, except for some exciting downhill-at-60 mph footage, nothing really happened. Armstrong and Contador didn't challenge the current yellow jersey holder (who'll probably keep it the rest of this week, but WILL lose it). I guess they're going to make their serious moves when the peloton goes into the Alps starting this Friday. Monday's a rest day so no Tour TV for me! Sob!
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
You Know It's A Weird Day When....
...both your automobile AND your bike are in the shop at the same time! And overnight on top of that! I'm down to my time trial bike and using Jonnene's car for most of Wednesday. The truck has to have a couple of switches replaced so that my air conditioner runs for more than 30 minutes and it's gonna cost bunches of moola. Yuk.
The bike is having its bottom bracket looked at. The sealed bearings aren't spinning the way I'd like and the shop is going to see what the problem is, if there is one (I could be imagining the whole thing). It just seems to be too sluggish and I could be wasting a few watts of energy trying to turn the pedals. It's always something....
The bike is having its bottom bracket looked at. The sealed bearings aren't spinning the way I'd like and the shop is going to see what the problem is, if there is one (I could be imagining the whole thing). It just seems to be too sluggish and I could be wasting a few watts of energy trying to turn the pedals. It's always something....
Shannon in Switzerland
I've known Shannon Koch since she was 14 years old and started racing for Team LaS'port as a junior. Now she's, what, 22 and is racing in Switzerland this summer! The photo above shows her finishing a race this past weekend over in Germany where they combined the women and the junor men in a race called a "rundstreckenrennen", something close to an American-style criterium race. She finished second among the women racers despite dealing with a stomach-ache toward the end of the race. In the picture one of the junior men racers just barely nips Shannon (at left in the white uniform) at the line but supposedly was very upset afterwards that he almost got beat by a girl. Shannon said that if she had 5 more meters she would have beat him to the line. That doesn't surprise me. All these experiences will make her a better racer when she gets back home to Dallas.Something I'm Thankful For Today
I am thankful that the Versus channel shows live coverage of the Tour de France so that I don't have to see any of the Michael Jackson funereal services or Obama in Russia (is he really doing anything over there?).Saturday, July 04, 2009
Happy Fourth of July 2009!
The flags in front of the house. Usually I have an Australian flag on the far end but today is Independence Day and I went full-on stars and stripes!
And here's the house they fly in front of! Looking pretty good with the new front windows and interior blinds, hey?We went to a party tonight hosted by a member of our cycling team...the same guy who won the national championship last Monday. Got to see his new stars and stripes jersey and the medal that came with it. Lots of people there, even some folks I hadn't seen in a long time and whom I really enjoyed talking to. You can hear the fireworks outside but it's not as bad as I thought it would be.
Happy Birthday, America!!
Ze Bathroom, She Is Fini!
Finally! I can say that our guest bath is pretty much done! Outside of switching out the yukky gold sink faucet for something in white and chrome so that it can match the rest of the other accessories, there's not much else we can do. Well, maybe add a few pictures on the wall. That wouldn't hurt.
ABOVE: Looking from the bathtub end of the guest bath. On the left is the renovation in progress. Had to rebuild the medicine cabinet (and replace the cabinet door) and put in new wainscot along the lower wall. We switched out the wall mirrors between the two bathrooms which gave us better proportions on the walls - the smaller one we put in the guest bath just looked better there and the larger one works better in the master bath. Click on the image to see a bigger version.
ABOVE: Looking into the guest bath from the hallway door. This shows you what the room looked like when we moved in (left), with the striped wallpaper and the louvered divide wall between the vanity and the toilet. The center photo shows that the layers of wallpaper had been striped off and the sheetrock underneath with its repair patches before being textured. The last photo (right) shows the finished version with the new paint, the divider gone, and a nicer place to visit for those special times.When we eventually get the master bath renovated (it'll be a major job), at least we'll have a functioning bathroom to use in the meantime that looks pretty good...and pretty good for any guests we may have.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Baby, It's HOT Outside!
No kiddin'! The temps around here have been in the 100-101 Fahrenheit (wow, actually spelled that right! Score one for me!) range the last few days and it's made for some sweaty bike rides and dramatic weight drops. I hope our water bill doesn't go up too much with the amount I've been drinking. In the last 72 hours I've done four training rides, one 4.5-mile run, and spent a couple of hours out in the yard, and I'm feeling it. I'll be taking all Friday off, sorta....I'll still do stuff but just not as intense. The worse part is that I can't seem to get the A/C on my truck fixed. I've taken it to the shop twice now and when they say it's fixed, I find out it's not fixed. Oh, they've done some real work on the system but it's not correcting the problem (stays cold for a while, then blows warm air the rest of the day). I'm giving them one more shot at it and if there's no joy then I'm looking for another place to take my business. I think the problem is mechanical now since there are no leaks and all moisture has been evacuated from the lines which was originally thought to be the cause.
Wednesday night we had the sixth in our 8-race time trial series south of town. Usually I run these time trials but sometimes I get to actually race one or two of them myself when someone else volunteers to take over. This was the case and I got to suffer with the rest of the crazy people who want to see how fast they can go on a bicycle for 7.35 miles...in this heat. Jonnene helped Jason, along with several other volunteers, to make it all work. Fifteen riders showed up and I started third in the lineup. I ended up having a good ride, setting a new personal record on the course with a 17:52 time, averaging 24.68 mph, and finishing sixth overall. I was happy with that and the whole event went smoothly. Did I mention it was HOT?
One of my LaS'port teammates, Mat Davis, won the 65-mile Masters 30-34 road race championships last Monday up in Louisville, Kentucky. He was part of a seven-man break about halfway thru the race and made a dramatic sprint in the last 200 meters to narrowly win over Mike Olheiser of Alabama. It was a terrific win for Mat and the team as Olheiser has a few stars & stripes and world championship jerseys hanging up in his closet! This made Mat the third Team LaS'port rider to win a coveted jersey over the last ten years. Mat was at Thursday night's ride and we got to talk to him a bit about his experience. He sounded pretty excited about the whole thing.
Mat pumps his fist in victory as he wins the 30-34 national
road championship over world class racer Mike Olheiser.
Since today is pretty much a day off for everyone, I'm going to get a few things done around the house and run errands with Jonnene. Tomorrow is the Fourth of July where we'll participate in the FireCracker 5K run and go to a team party that evening. We'll just enjoy the holiday.
Wednesday night we had the sixth in our 8-race time trial series south of town. Usually I run these time trials but sometimes I get to actually race one or two of them myself when someone else volunteers to take over. This was the case and I got to suffer with the rest of the crazy people who want to see how fast they can go on a bicycle for 7.35 miles...in this heat. Jonnene helped Jason, along with several other volunteers, to make it all work. Fifteen riders showed up and I started third in the lineup. I ended up having a good ride, setting a new personal record on the course with a 17:52 time, averaging 24.68 mph, and finishing sixth overall. I was happy with that and the whole event went smoothly. Did I mention it was HOT?
One of my LaS'port teammates, Mat Davis, won the 65-mile Masters 30-34 road race championships last Monday up in Louisville, Kentucky. He was part of a seven-man break about halfway thru the race and made a dramatic sprint in the last 200 meters to narrowly win over Mike Olheiser of Alabama. It was a terrific win for Mat and the team as Olheiser has a few stars & stripes and world championship jerseys hanging up in his closet! This made Mat the third Team LaS'port rider to win a coveted jersey over the last ten years. Mat was at Thursday night's ride and we got to talk to him a bit about his experience. He sounded pretty excited about the whole thing.
Mat pumps his fist in victory as he wins the 30-34 nationalroad championship over world class racer Mike Olheiser.
Since today is pretty much a day off for everyone, I'm going to get a few things done around the house and run errands with Jonnene. Tomorrow is the Fourth of July where we'll participate in the FireCracker 5K run and go to a team party that evening. We'll just enjoy the holiday.
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