Sometimes the most shocking revelations...

...are the ones you really should have had much... MUCH sooner than you did.

At my office, specifically in the lower level men's room of my office, more specifically in the single handi-accessible stall on a handrail... sits and always has sat a can of Oust® air sanitizer (presumabely it is not the same can but my point is that this can is always replaced with a new one upon depletion, and thus always there on the rail in the single handi-accessible stall in the lower level men's room at my office.) OK so there is this can of Oust® air sanitizer and I am happy it is there because it is quite often needed though unfortunately not often enough used. I, being the conscientious guy that I am, always use it when I feel its use is necessary. This policy has been in place for the last 11 months that being the duration of my employment to date at my company.

Now I am not particularly a germ-a-phobe or conspicuously obsessive/compulsive... but if I can avoid particular germs I will do so. I realize we inhale millions of germs every day but I cannot stop breathing and would never be caught dead wearing a paper breath mask unless sanding drywall. I am talking about surface contact germs. I suppose I should get on to the afore mentioned revelation.

As I was washing my hands at the sink after concluding the business which I entered the men's room to conduct, it occured to me...

I feel it is safe to estimate that 100% of everyone that picks up that can of Oust® air freshener...

does so...

immediately...

AFTER WIPING THEIR ASS!!!

My solution:

Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

2nd Timothy 3:7

An oddly correct gig

Well it is near Midnight and I just got back from hearing my favorite coffee roaster jam with Heads of State at Jerry's Bait Shop in Lenexa. Sat back and enjoyed a solid rock band with a nice individual sound whilst sipping a Blvd Wheat from the tap. The drummer was a little too in love with 16th note fills (of the tom-tom-bass-bass etc variety) but then leave it to me to criticize the drummer. He actually layed down some nice grooves AS of course did the incredibly funky bass player. The lead guitar was I thought especially good and not a bad singer or song writer, although he was a little too Barack Orgasmic if you get me... especially after today's ordeal.

Sitting in that bar though brought back some oddly familiar memories... the subtle smell of unsmoked weed for one thing is something you never quite forget and as certain individuals would walk by my table the memories flooded over me. All in all the memories weren't fond ones. Today I can go to a place like that purely to listen to some music, but before I knew Christ those places were a lonely, empty, hollow attempt at filling a void I didn't at the time really even know existed... and of course in my past if I was at a place like that I was sitting behind a drumset. In fact the year before I got saved (88-89) was the year I spent the most time playing gigs with my wanna-be-famous high school rock band and one of the most miserable years of my life. Anyway I say all that to say this... Life in Christ is a blessed existence and it is good to remember from whence I came.

Going out to see a movie tonight...

It looks really funny!

English as a 2nd language...

A friend of mine emailed this to me today... I got a laugh out of it:


I was at the currency exchange window at the local bank.
Just one lady in front of me … an Asian lady…
She was trying to exchange yen for dollars and she was a little irritated…
She asked the teller, 'Why it change?
Yesterday, I get two hunat dolla fo yen. Today I get hunat eighty?
The teller, ‘That was yesterday’s exchange rate.
Today’s exchange rate is different.’
Asian lady, ‘I want yesterday rate, why it change?’
The teller shrugged her shoulders and said, 'Fluctuations'.
The Asian lady says, 'Fluc you white people, too'.

I wonder if this guy is by chance a coder...

But of course that then begs the question... which came first? The anger or the desire to code? I'm not sure how the burger is involved in all of this.

11 miles and 10 frozen toes later...

I've come to the conclusion that a pair of well insulated boots is a must. My winter cycling gear aside from the boots I used today is perfect though. I wasn't too cold or too hot from the ankles up and it is 25 degrees with a 14 degree wind chill (when you're not moving). If I get the boots figured out I bet this outfit would work down to about 15 degrees if it isn't very windy. Today most of the gusty wind was from the NW and as I was going NE then SW it made for a nice fun cross wind the entire trip. I would have gone 16 miles if it weren't for the feet. So that is 11 miles down, 2289 to go!

A public statement as a means of motivation

Well I suppose this is the time of year for making resolutions and plans and such. This is my goal for cycling for the year. In some ways it is very conservative and I could surprise myself and exceed it... but when I look at the total miles it is really quite an optimistic goal (and not a little intimidating) and only time will tell how well I do. Since riding in the cold really REALLY sucks I am not going to hold myself to an unrealistic goal and from now until early March I just want to ride at least once a week. Obviously if I can get more rides in then great and I'm sure we will have some stretches where the road conditions are bad for many days (or even weeks) at a time. I figure if I can get in a few 2 ride or 3 ride weeks these will make up for the long breaks I may need to take due to road conditions.

Here is the breakdown I've come up with:
(a 'ride' would indicate a round trip commute [23 miles] OR a 16+ mile Saturday ride)

*assuming all rides are commutes

Now until March (8 weeks) -
1 ride per week (184 miles*)

During the month of March as it starts warming up -
2 rides per week (184 miles*)

Starting in April I expect to have my riding endurance back and it should be much warmer. April to end of June -
3 rides per week (828 miles*)

By July I should have hit my 1,000 mile base training mark and at this point I want to be able to really hit my peak and push myself. July to the end of September -
4 rides per week (1104 miles*)

Total mileage - 2300 miles!!!

Obviously this last phase is the most challenging goal and I hope to be able to attain it and maintain this rate for as much of the last 12 weeks as possible. 2300 miles is obviously a lot for a beginner but I think by starting early and taking my time increasing the weekly mileage I will at least have a chance of sticking with it.

I won't project beyond the end of September because when it starts getting cold again I can't say what I will decide to do. My cycling goals for now will extend until October and then we'll go from there.

Canned air + Curious cat =

One cheap but oh so fulfilling laugh.