After a year of knee problems from riding, and a failure to diagnose the problem myself, I finally scheduled a fitting with Bike Gallery on Sandy. The fitting took about 2 hours, and included tweaking my pedals, shoes, seat/post, and stem, but today’s ride was awesome. I got to work in almost record time without knee pain, and I was comfortable.
Also, it was just in time for next week’s Bike to Work Day festivities.
Michelle, my parents, a group of friends and I all rode a lengthy 90ish miles this weekend. Saturday we rode from Lynnwood to Edmonds, ferried Edmonds to Kingston, rode Kingston to outside Port Townsend, and spent the night. The next day we rode in to PT, ferried to Keystone (on Whidbey Island), rode south to Clinton, ferried from Clinton to Mukilteo, and rode from Mukilteo uphill back to Lynnwood. The route and the ride were awesome. John has more.
Today is Michelle’s last day with her current employer. She seems to be carrying around a mix of sadness, optimism, and anxiousness. To the future!
I’ve rediscovered public radio by accident. A such, I’ve heard a lot of quotes from politicians and activists lately. I’ve also rediscovered that people don’t know what a fact is, and when to use it.
When you start a sentence with “The facts is…”, I will stop listening to you so I don’t hear when you continue with “…I believe that…” A fact about your belief is as important as a non-expert’s opinion. Just say you believe something. Don’t treat it like a fact.
It was somewhat refreshing to hear Attorney General Gonzalez testify this morning because he did not mix his recollections or opinions with facts. At least he kept the dignity of the word.
Joe and Lindsay joined us on our first trip back up to Bellingham with Ella this past weekend. It was Ella’s first 5 hour car trip (excluding the snowy return from Yakima via Umatilla at christmas). We all went to visit friends and see the tulips in Skagit county, but mostly to see friends. Ella had already seen the tulips at Woodburn with my parents, but she still seems to have enjoyed them.
The drive back was a little rougher and Joe and Lindsay distracted Ella from what appears too be teething pains. Ella’s friend Nathan already has his bottom teeth, so it’s only a matter of time before gums give way to pearls. Danger pearls.
I’ve read precious little for enjoyment in the last decade. Of what I have read, Vonnegut has been my greatest source of enjoyment, thrill, contemplation and absurd laughter. I’m saddened to hear of Kurt’s Death, but I’ve had some practice. (have to use the Indianapolis link..) I first heard of his death about 5 years ago. So I was surprised to read a posthumous essay of his then see him on the Daily Show. So now I’m prepared.
Vonnegut’s writing was a great source of comfort. It is dark, insightful, and hilarious. The only attempt I know of to put it on the silver screen (Breakfast of Champions) fell short of his art. One of the things that impressed me so much about his writing was his ability so say so much with so few words. Vonnegut’s books are rather short, but he’s a master of succinctness without loosing any content, any idea, or any joke to efficiency.
God’s speed.
The lull is from too much, not too little. Michelle has accepted a new job, Ella started her swim classes (see flickr pics), Hung out with friends, rode 30 miles, had Easter dinner with family, and have been working too much.
This saturday, Michelle, Barley, Ella and I walked down to Healthy Pets Northwest to get the old man some more food. When we arrived, we had learned that the brand of food he had (but not the same type) had been recalled, so the owner wasn’t going to carry it anymore. She gave us a few different samples to try with Barley, many of which were made in the area and cost about the same. We also learned that a local news station was on their way to interview her and wanted to know if a pet owner would also mind being interviewed. Michelle volunteered me somehow.
The reporter and cameraman from Koin arrived and did a small interview with me (if I remember correctly) and shot a fair amount of footage of Barley. We’ve always felt he was a handsome dog, so we were certain he’d make it past the editors. We weren’t so sure about me, in my worn out long underwear and t-shirt.
That night at 11, Barley made his debut. For 2.5 seconds. That’s all. I was pleased to have been cut since it felt weird to talk about something you don’t know much or care too much about. But then a friend up in Bellingham said that she saw me on the news there. It’s kind of weird to think about local coverage being offered up to other affiliates, though then you get personal interviews and don’t have to worry about is communicated through the editing process.
So out of no where, i feel like someone rolled a mossy brick in lawn clippings then hit me in the face with it. I’m not used to allergies. I guess it’s time to get me some generic claratin.
I had a dream that my eyes were bleeding chroma, the gray value associated with the Munsell color system. It made finishing my maps impossible because the colors were all too bright. Weird, for many reasons, but mainly because I don’t like the Munsell system. I much prefer to work with HEX codes. RGB is ok, but harder to remember when you have to type in a lot of values. Time to use some eye drops.