Three neighbor kids came over this morning while I was working from home and watching my daughter on a delayed opening day* for our schools. To give them something to do for 30 minutes until the bus came, I offered one my son’s video game systems, including an Xbox with 4 games or an a joystick with Pac-Man and a few other 1980s games built in. To my surprise, he chose Pac-Man.
Furthermore, my son got two new games for his Xbox for his birthday from my mother. They played one, a Harry Potter 4 game, for a week until his birthday party with his friend the following weekend. Since then, all his video game time has been devoted to playing the assorted 1980s video games. He has not even tried the other Xbox game (Shrek) yet.
*Our school system opens two hours late one Thursday a month to make up for lost teacher workdays under North Carolina’s law that limits the beginning and end of the school year.
I did a 23-mile bike ride on an unseasonably warm (70oF) November day. With this ride, I have now ridden 3,504 miles in 2008. My exercise log database also shows that this was done in 114 rides, thus averaging 30.7 miles per ride. The time records are somewhat approximate, but it looks like I averaged 16.9mph while on the bike (that is, not including stops). Some rides were shorter, such as 4-6 mile rides with the kids. Others were longer, including the Blue Ridge Brutal 100 (+Assault on Mt Jefferson option) and the Six Gap Century–both over 100 miles on paved mountain roads–and numerous 60-80 mile training rides in Orange, Chatham, and Alamance counties on Saturday mornings.
My mileage for 2006 was 3,457, though I gave myself credit for 3500 that year since I was having problems with my cyclometer and was not as diligent about recording all rides, like those with the kids. Also in 2006, that 3500- miles was in only 98 rides and over a shorter riding season. While it made my average ride longer (35.2 mi.), I felt I was almost always choosing to train when the opportunity conflicted with family events–soccer games, dinner with other family members, etc. Thus, in 2007, I reversed course and almost always chose family over training, but only got in 2500 miles. By spreading my riding out over more months and in a few more rides, I feel I achieved a much better balance.
While I haven’t given up riding for this year, I do not expect to get more than a few rides in now that the weather is colder more frequently and it is dark before I finish work. It is still possible to break 3600 miles with warm riding weather around Thanksgiving or Christmas, but I’m happy with the year as it is, and look forward to 2009.
Villa della Luna 5-pc place setting (plate and bowl recalled)
After using the same everyday plates and dishes since I was in grad school and Debbie was still an undergrad, we decided to get some new dinnerware about two years ago. We browsed the Pfaltzgraff outlet over in Burlington, but could not find a pattern we both liked. Last year, we decided to make a more concerted effort as our Christmas present to each other. After going around to several department stores, we had found exactly one pattern we both liked, but agreed it was too expensive. Browsing more online, I found the Villa della Luna pattern by Pfaltzgraff. It was bright and a little more showy than what Debbie and I had been considering, but when she saw it, she immediately agreed that it was for us. After looking at actual pieces in a local store, I made a last-minute run to the Burlington outlet the night before we left for Christmas in SC. When I got there, they had some very pretty blue salad plates in addition to the square salad plates Debbie had admired. Not only were they attractive, but they were on sale, so I bought a half-dozen of them as a bonus Christmas surprise for Debbie, in addition to a ‘traditional’ set for 12–dinner plates, square salad plates, and soup/cereal bowls (who needs mugs?)–that we had agreed on.
In SC, Debbie had another dinnerware surprise in addition to the blue salad plates. We showed my parents the one place setting we had brought down for that purpose. My mother then showed us the Christmas present she had intended for us–a ‘new’ set of the pattern she had given us 17 years earlier that she had found in a local antique/used-furniture store.* On the bright side, the new pattern did give my mother a whole new realm of gifts that she likes to give.
Then, in the spring, I read about a recall of the Villa della Luna plates and one of the two patterns of soup/cereal bowls. We called the store, but they said they did not have any information about when or if new plates/bowls would be available. We then had to decide whether to 1) return everything, in case the pattern was discontinued, 2) return just the plates and bowls for a credit to use against new plates in a different pattern, or 3) hold on to them until we knew more about Pfaltzgraff’s plans for the pattern. We chose #3–wait and see.
In the summer, we heard they planned to make the plates again in October. In October, we saw a new dinner plate one the website where there had been no dinner plate, but it was very plain compared to the one we had. However, after eating off an assortment of mismatched plastic plates for six months, we were ready for some real plates. I took a half-day off so that we could go to the store together to see the new plate and other, similar patterns and to return our recalled pieces.
Before we went, I called the Pfaltzgraff store and their recall hotline, where I found out that 1) they planned to have the original pattern available (hopefully without the lead and cadmium) before Christmas and 2) the Pfaltzgraff outlet stores were closing and had everything 40% or more off. (Future purchases could be made online.) We ended up returning our recalled pieces for a TBD credit, hoping to get a 1-for-1 swap when the new pieces are available. We took advantage of the 40-60% off sale to get more assorted, non-recalled Villa della Luna pieces.
Caramel Swirl dinnerware
Just before we left, Debbie peeked in a separate room where they had some deeply discounted merchandise. At first nothing interested us, but in the back were some really ugly dishes in a brown Caramel Swirl pattern that looks straight from the 1970s. Somehow, thinking of them in our 1969 ranch house made them irresistable–sort of like slowing down when passing a car wreck for some people. At only $1.58 per plate, we ended up buying 8 plates and 4 pasta bowls so we could have real plates for the next six weeks, as well as appropriate tableware when we haul out the fondue sets.
*Incidentally, this was the second time we told them about something we had just bought for ourselves only to have them say they had just gotten a different version for us. The first was after we got Coppi Dog, and they had just gotten a cocker spaniel that they ended up keeping.
Katie Rose was in the NC State Fair horse show this weekend. It got off to an inauspicious start yesterday in the jumping classes: First, her horse refused the jumps in the first event. Second, her horse was kicked off the fairgrounds because its papers were not in order–a vaccination was expired or something like that. Her instructor, the horse’s owner, took that horse home and brought Katie Rose another horse, who was more seasoned but not as showy. However, that horse then also refused the jumps because he had not had a chance to see them in practice. Despite all the disappointment, Katie Rose kept her composure and her spirits up for the next day.
Katie Rose on Red, her backup pony
On Sunday, she got a sixth place in showmanship (walking the horse, not riding) using the trainer’s own horse, since her backup was not used to showmanship. She then switched to her backup pony, but did not place in the next event. However, she placed ninth in equitation, which judges how well the rider is doing (vs how the horse looks). Finally, she got 10th place in the championship class. All events were 10&under (they go by the rider’s at the beginning of the year; KR is 11 now, of course) pony classes, and she was competing against 16-25 other rider’s in each one. By comparison, she placed 6th, 10th, and 7th out of 4-5 events in her state fair debut last year, but did not get a championship ribbon, which we were all please with this year.
Katie Rose with her 10th place championship ribbon
This morning after breakfast, Debbie and I were discussing the financial services bailout package currently under consideration in Congress. Debbie said, “It’s what? 700 trillion?” When I replied, “700 billion,” she said, “Billion. Trillion. What’s the difference?” Katie Rose was getting ready for school, and said from the hallway, “One is 12 zeros and the other is 9 zeros,” while at the same time I was saying from the kitchen, “Three orders of magnitude.”
Such is Debbie’s life these days. There have been several other instances in the last year in which her offhanded comments were logically deconstructed in the same manner at the same time by both her husband and her 11-year-old daughter, much to her exasperation. I find it amusing, as well as somewhat gratifying to see my thought processes reflected so strongly in Katie Rose. Ever since she was an infant, it has been obvious she was my daughter. Not only does she have my blonde hair, blue eyes, and freckles, but little moments like the one above have shown similarities that run far beneath the surface.
On Sunday, September 28, 2008, I rode in the Six Gap Century in the mountains of north Georgia, starting in Dahlonega. The ride was 103.8 miles over six mountain passes (gaps), climbing a total of 11,230 vertical feet.
Headed to the start
Start of the Six Gap Century
Between the 100-mile, 50-mile, and 35-mile route options, there were reportedly 2,300 riders registered. The 100-mile ride started first, and from about 200 feet back, it took me 1-1/2 minutes just to get up to the start line. According to some photos and video that Debbie took at the start, the last starters came across after 4:50.
My official finishing time was 7:24:30. The published results are not ranked, but plugging them in to a spreadsheet for sorting, it looks like I finished in the top half of the finishers (420 out of 953), as well as the top half of my age group (73/159 males age 40-44). I was a little surprised by how long it took, considering how good I felt–before, during, and after the ride. Before the ride, I was hoping for a time of 6-1/2 to 7 hours, but rest stops and the long, steep climbs really added on the minutes. My cyclometer showed a time of 6:45:45, which excluded rest stops, so without the 40 minutes getting water, eating some food, taking a few pictures, and calling Debbie to let her know my ETA, I averaged 15.5mph, which I feel is pretty respectable given all the climbing. (By comparison, around Chapel Hill I may touch 18mph on solo rides or 20mph with a fast group on my best days.)
My best statisic was on the 7-mile, 7% grade Hogpen Gap climb, which I did in 28:15, which was the 295th best time of the 1,017 riders measured over that interval. I, or at least my bike, was pretty good at passing on the downhills as well, although I tried not to go too, too fast. Even so, the first 2-1/2 miles after Hogpen Gap flew by at 40+mph, topping out around 48 or 49. The best downhill was after the last gap, Woody Gap. Not only did it come at a good time–mile 87, when I was pretty tired–but it was a nice, long downhill with sweeping bends and several long straights, rather than sharp switchbacks, so it was not only comfortable not having to pedal, but there was little need to steer and/or brake hard.
View from rest stop at Woody Gap (Gap #6, mile 87)
I did re-learn the value of pedaling on the downhills. Â Because it was cool, especially at the higher elevations (in the low 60s?) , and because I had some problems with cramping at the 3 Mountain Madness back in May and in some training rides over the summer, I was careful to pedal lightly on the downhills to keep my legs warm and loose. The big benefit came at the bottom of the hills, where I could carry my speed much farther up the next uphill. This was particularly true compared to riders who coasted down, then coasted up until they reached their comfortable climbing speed. Â I zoomed past several riders at different points going 20-23 mph on uphills when they were only going 12-15mph or less, and was able to maintain fast (16+mph) speeds for another half-mile or so.
Me at the finish, mile 104
Back on the climbs, I was pretty pleased at how I generally passed more riders than passed me. My rest stops, however, seemed long–refilling bottles and mixing in the energy drink powder, eating some fruit or cookies (in addition to what I ate on the bike), and snapping a few photos at some of the more scenic stops. Â The 40-minute difference between my cyclometer and my official finishing time just confirms that. If I could cut my time off the bike down to just refilling my water bottles, then still eat enough while riding, I could probably be in the top third. Â On the other hand, it was nice to relax and eat for a few minutes at the top of every other gap or so, and to have some photos to remember the ride by. Â My average speed on the bike was good, and I was very pleased at how well I felt on the climbs and after the ride.
I was feeling a bit weary on the last two climbs, after Hogpen, and I was counting down the miles from about mile 80 onward.
We have two cats. I didn’t ask for them, but neither did I object strongly enough when my mother asked if we wanted two abandoned kittens she had rescued–at least not the second time. I did manage to turn them down once, and Mom took them home. However, one of my nieces living in Mom’s house at the time turned out to be allergic to cats, and Mom had to find them another home… which she did with the help of my wife’s and kids’ pleading and puppy-dog eyes.
We got them in July, 2005, and my wife had the great idea of naming them Phil and Paul, after the Tour de France commentators whom we listen to for hours upon hours each July. Phil/Phyl would have to have been short for Phyllis, since they are brother and sister, but no matter. Debbie pointed out then we would always remember when we got them. Katie Rose and Pete liked the line of reasoning, but not the specific names, and proffered “Summer” for one of the cats.
I thought that sounded a bit hippie and suggested if we used it, we would have to name the other one “Rainbow.” Furthermore, since one was all gray, it naturally should be the one named “Rainbow,” leading to the now-common answer on the cats names, “Summer and Rainbow. Rainbow is the all-gray one.”
I had two good bike rides today. The first was a 65-mile ride with a 6-person group for 55 miles, plus 5 miles each to and from the start. It was pretty laid back, at a conversational pace that ended up being 17-1/2 mph overall. After doing 200 miles in the Blue Ridge Mountains the week before last, and a 100-mile mountain ride last Saturday, I still felt remarkably energetic after doing ‘just’ 65 miles today.
The second ride was with Pete on the trails behind our neighborhood. He had wanted to have a friend for a sleepover, but the friend he asked couldn’t come and it was too late for another invitation. He looked kind of down, so to cheer him up, I asked him to go for a ride. It worked: At one point he was singing as he rode along just in front of me. When we got back, we watched the first hour of the Bristol race until he had to go to bed.
I’ve decided that mahi mahi is a flavor sink. Like a heat sink, it absorbs flavor in such a way the flavor seems to disappear. I’ve had it only a few times, but always at good restaurants. Every time, I’ve been underwhelmed by the taste, or lack thereof. Not only does the meat itself have no taste, but it seems to absorb into a tastelessness any sauce added to it. Last night, I had a plate of fish & chips, with malt vinegar. The chips/fries were great, and the fish–mahi mahi–was cooked well. Still, it seemed to soak up all the vinegar with very little returned as taste.
Katie Rose and Pete are in Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts, respectively. I have been a den leader for Pete’s 2 years in Cub Scouts, and Debbie has been a troop leader for Katie Rose this year and her initial year in Daisy Scouts.
Katie Rose sometimes gets envious of all the fun things Pete is doing–for example, earning belt loops or going on campouts–when her troop was mainly just doing arts and crafts when she was Pete’s age. Debbie and I have agreed that one thing BSA does differently than GSA is Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts organize in packs/troops over multiple ages, whereas Girl Scout troops are smaller groups of girls all about the same age–equivalent to a single den of Cub Scouts. The Cub Scout pack has the advantage of institutional knowledge handed down Webelos->Bears->Wolves->Tigers (i.e., 4th/5th grades -> 3rd -> 2nd -> 1st grade). However, the Junior Girl Scout troops do not formally associate with the Brownies or the Daisy Scouts, so traditions and methods are not being passed along.
Our kids have cousins who are also in Scouts: a girl 3 years older than Katie Rose, a boy Katie Rose’s age, and another boy 10 months younger than Pete, but who made the cutoff so that he is in Pete’s grade. While we were eating dinner with them one night, the Girl Scout with two younger brothers launched defensively into her assessment of the differences: “Boy Scouts teaches you how to survive when your plane crashes in the middle of nowhere, and you only have your Swiss army knife. Girl Scouts teaches you how to survive the other 99.9% of the time.” To which Pete responded excitedly, “We get to have Swiss army knives?!!!”
