Lazy Me

I haven't posted for a couple of days. Lazy me..

Spring has sprung and April showers are around the corner. Got to get out in the yard. Planting to do.. I need to get going... See ya...

Sad Day

Yesterday two cyclists were killed and a third person is critically injured when struck by a car. Goodness, such a sad thing. People enjoying a beautiful ride on a nice, country road one minute and then carnage the next minute. Everybody is sharing this sorrow. The cycling community is in shock.

I know the sport I love and enjoy is dangerous. There can be crashes at any moment. Not every incident involves cars. Other bikes can cause you to crash. Or you can just fall off all by yourself. I have done most of these type things during the years I have been riding. I've even had a helicopter ride off a mountain to a hospital. Crashes are a part of the sport. We can't avoid them. We can only use extreme care and caution. All of the time on every ride.

I feel very sorry for all the families of the people involved in the accident yesterday. The pain will last many years..

Spring Forward

Spring forward. I think it is less painful to go in that direction then the other, go back. I went to bed at the regular time. Eleven PM. And when I woke it was eight o'clock in the morning.
I don't miss the hour I lost. Yet..

Now to change all the clocks. Start upstairs and work my way down. Some need new batteries. All need to be set AHEAD one hour..

The computer and the cell phone already know the time changed. One computer, on my bike, didn't know that it was leap year and I also had to set the date. I wonder if I missed any other date modes??

Everything in the house is changed and now I just have to do the clock in the cars...

Bike Ride

Today was my monthly bicycle ride which I lead for my bike club. It was well attended. Twenty four riders turned out for the ride. The weather was great. Sunny and warm.

We have all levels of riders attend the ride. Since it is still early in the riding season some people are having some bits of trouble with the pace and distance. We ride a minimum of thirty five miles. A few stronger riders complete about forty miles.

Tourist for a day

My honey and I went to the City today on the train. Being a senior citizen has a benefit half price fares on the train and then another discount on the city buses.

She was born and raised in the City. We visited her old home and walked around the neighborhood. She remembers the area pretty well.

We visited the big park and saw the Hall of Flowers. That is a giant glass building with tropical plants. The building is hot and humid. There is even a rain storm about every fifteen minute.

It was a fun day and almost like a mini vacation. With the price of gasoline that may be all the vacation we can afford to take this coming year

Good Beans

Okay, I have discussed the cooking of evening meals. Tonight we had a new soup made with black beans. Boy, was it ever delicious. My Honey says the receipe was in a flyer from PGE with the utility bill.
I spent way too long cleaning my bicycle tonight. I realized today that I had not cleaned the drive train for over a year... I pulled the rear wheel and took the cassett off to scrub with degreaser. Then I removed the crank arm with the big chain rings. I disassembled the three chain rings and cleaned each chain ring.. After that I pulled the rear derailler and cleaned the jockey pulleys. After I cleaned it I forgot how to "thread" the chain and had to go in the house to look at my other bike to see how to get the chain back together again. When all the parts were together, I lubed the chain and now it sits in the garage waiting for me to wipe the excess oil off the chain.. I hope it works as good as it did before I cleaned it all.. Usually, a clean drive chain will be more efficient.

Remote Control

I had an opportunity today to learn the difference between "On Demand" and "DVR" controls on the remote control. I called the cable provider to report that some programs which I had recorded on the "DVR" were stopping and not playing when I tried to watch them at a later time.

I told the service rep that I was experiencing the problem but I told her that I was recording using the "On Demand" function. I was not thinking about which button I was inputing on the remote.

The nice service rep tried to straighten me out that I could not be recording using the "On Demand" key ... I was finally on the same page as she was and then I reported the problem. The result of all this is that a service person will make a house call tomorrow.

Now I know the difference between "On Demand" and "DVR".

Let's Get Cooking !

It seems that I have become needy during a certain period of each day. I have to eat a dinner.
Eating is okay but fixing the meal is a pain. Getting all the stuff together after it is decided what to have for dinner is a chore.

There is plenty of grub around the place. If a person remembers to take some entree out of the freezer in the morning that helps narrow down the choice.

The other thing is how long it takes to get a dinner prepared. Usually it is after 6 PM before a serious effort is started. Then by the time the meal is consumed it is after 8 PM.

My life partner, Karen, is NOT a great cook. She tries different receipes that are very difficult to prepare. The ingredient list is exotic and strange. Tonight a frozen bean dish exploded in the fry pan. So, we may have to eat those beans tomorrow..

I'm not a great cook either. So, when you live in a glass house you should not throw stones.
We'll struggle together and try to feed ourselves...

Plant the Garden

Spring is the time to get ready to plant the garden. Today we visited the local nursery and got some plants to start the garden. Tomato plants are high on the list and then strawberrys. Of course the soil has to be prepared for planting. That will happen later in the week.

"Spring has Sprung. The Grass is Riz. I wonder where the Birdies Is?"

Sunday Snooze

It's great to not have any thing to have to do today. Just kick back and relax..

"Oh honey, would you take down the cover over the tree outside?" I'm glad I have the time to do that.

While I'm out there in front I may as well check the air in the car tires. In fact I should check the tires on all the vehicles. Two hours and ten tires later I now have all tires at the recommended air pressure. That should help increase fuel milage..

Now I have to run a load of laundry to clean the clothes I wore while I was checking the air pressure on the vehicles. There was sure a lot of brake dust on those wheels...

Okay, now I am going to relax.. Want to bet?

In Like a Lion

Holy Molie, March has arrived. The wind got blowing strong enough to lift the fog / smog out of the area. It was a fine day.

When I first bought a sailboat in the 1970's the wind blew that spring for ninety days in a row. Small Craft advisory was flying at the harbor every day. I was new to the sport of Sailing and I had no idea how to handle a sailboat in those conditions. My wife, bless her dearly departed heart, was very brave to join me out on the water.. She did have an adversion to the heeling which resulted from having too much sail area exposed to the prevailing breeze. Her inner ear kept me on an even keel during those early years...

I was hooked on sailing for twenty years. It was fun. Now, I enjoy NOT owning a boat. The saying around the yacht club was that a boat is "a hole in the water into which you pour money". And "the two happiest days of a man's life are the day he buys a boat and then the day that he sells that boat".