Earworm

I have had Insistor by Tapes n Tapes and Happy Hippo from Cloud Cult running through my head like all summer. Specifically the tune from insistor and the line "I gotta happy hippopotamus. She livin under neath my matteress. She showed me jesus at the bottom of a Colt 45". not that i mind having either song running through my head but i find myself whistling either one as I am biking to or from work or doing whatever.

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Pathfinder vs Tree

Over the weekend we were at Koogs's cabin. It has been raining a lot and anyone who has been there knows its not the nicest road to ride in on. We were driving back from town about 7 pm on Saturday night. I want to go down on record as saying Koogs was driving and not me. Of course it doesn't mean the outcome would have been any different but.....it makes me feel better. Again as anyone who has driven in or out of that road knows trees fall and need to be removed from the road. Usually it just means chainsawing a section of the tree out wide enough to open the road up and leaving the rest of the tree there. In this case there was a old sawed tree on the side of the road. This one happened to be laying on its branches so it wasn't on the ground but about 4-5 feet in the air. As Koogs came around the corner she slid a little and went off the side of the road right into this reminants of a tree. The trunk of the tree caught the passenger side roof(yes the side I was on) and then slid down a little and came through the window. The limb was solid and really didn't move that much. As we were not going that fast there really was no danger of being impaled movie like on the tree limb. I did comment that I thought Koogs was trying to kill me. I had to remind her that I don't have much life insurance yet so she might want to wait to do that. In any case there was glass everywhere from the shattered window. We cleaned the car of glass and duct taped cradboard on both sides of the hole in the windw and drove home. Kind of felt a little white trashish but what can you do. In any case we are fine well except the truck which is currently in the shop getting repaired. Tree 1 Pathfinder 0. Of course the tree was already dead so what kind of damage could the Pathfinder do? Pathfinder needed +1 to Treant damage.

Too Cool Fixie

Anyone who bikes knows there are "groups" of bikers. You have your spandexed out road riders, you have your jean wearing wallet chain toating single speed and fixed gear guys, you have the adrenaline junkie mountain bikers, then you have the rest. Ok there are a lot more divisions of biking but for this conversation that will suffice. I will try not to generalize but it makes it so much easier to be angry at people when you can catagorize them. All this brings me to my ride home yesterday. I tend to bike home fast. Part of it is just to get home quick to releave Author#1 from child duty. Part of it is just trying to bike fast to get more excercise. Yesterday I pull up to a stop light on Portalnd and Lake. For those of you who don't know Portland is a 3 lane one way road out of the city that has a nice bike lane on it. Also I have learned that if I bike around 21-23 mph I can catch all but one light. As I pull up to the stop light at Lake it is red so I stop to wait for it to turn greem(This is the first light I hit off the bike path so usually I have to wait for it.) As I wait for it to turn green another biker kind of just pulls in front of me. Of course it is a fixie dude with his trendy backpack, torn jeans, and wallet chain. He does his little balancing act until the light turns green and we start to go. I almost immediately want to go around him because I want to make sure I go fast enough to catch all the lights. He then proceeds to ride in the middle of the bike lane so I can't pass him on the inside because of parked cars and can't pass him on the otherside because of moving cars. So I wait to a point where there are no parked cars figuring he will move over and I can pass him. The problem is he doesn't. So I wait for the next break in parked cars and pass him on the inside. This apparently disrupted his senses. There is this strange thing where bikers hate to be passed. I can't tell you how many people speed up when I pass them. In any case as I pass him he starts to yell something to the affect of "HI! Bye!". He must of yelled it about 5 times looking for some reaction from me. I so badly wanted to stop and let him know that this wouldn't have been an issue if one he didn't pull in front of me at the light at Lake St. Or two had the decency to move over when I was behind him. Instead I just sped by him ignoring him hoping I could go fast enough to make the lights.

Flat Tire

I got my first flat tire on my road bike this morning. Not ao good morning to get it but I got'r done and made it to work in under an hour.

On a completely different subject...I am not one to really dislike people but a have a corworker that I just really can't stand. One he is horribly lazy, everything he has ever done is the hardest thing ever done, and he talks to himslef all day long. For me these three things are the perfect storm of disliking. I will give you a perfect example of one in the list of many reasons I can't take this guy. I am sitting here working away. His cell phone rings...no big deal. He answers it and says hello. Now whetjer he says hello too quickly or the other person has an issue on there end(which I doubt because this happens a lot)I don't know but they never seem to hear him and must reply Hello. His reply "That is what I said.". I am not joking that I hear that about 2-3 times a day. Everytime I hear it I think what an asshole.

On another completely different subject that Glen Beck book is a joke. He goes on and on talking about the constitution and how we have strayed from it etc etc. He then talkes about these questions you must ask yourself and answer honestly. I don't have them in front of me but one of them revolved around everyone must speak english. I am not costitution scholar but I am pretty sure that isn't in any of the amendments to the constitution. So why is he even talking about it. There were a few other ones that I will try to post. I have only ever put 1 book down before finishing reading it. This one might make it to number 2. It is a struggle to read.

Snow Slog

First day of riding the bike to work in the snow. Was really nice out and was enjoying the ride until my feet got really wet and my glasses started fogging over. Never got cold but it just isn't pleasent to ride in soaking wet shoes.

Wanted to go mountain bike riding this weekend. Didn't happen. Now I am a little worried we are done for the year. Just when I felt like I was getting back into it..

Baseball

Those who know me know I am not a huge baseball fan. I enjoy the occasional game. I just think there are way to many games and lets be honest half the people on a baseball team have a specific skill and are not really atheletes. I liken it to bowling or golf. They have a sweet skill but it doesn't mean they are athletically inclined. Anyway I have been in many an argument about what is the definition of an athelete and I am not here to argue that. I am here to say that the game between the Twins and the Tigers the other night was one awesome baseball game. The pressure of every at bat was awesome. The lead changes. The strategy. The clutch hits the clutch defense. If baseball could bottle that recipie and repeat it would blow every other sport out of the water. That game was a freaking classic. I hate when people say that but it was. MaYbe they should have 2 wild cards teams from each division play a 1 game playoff to see who will advance. Maybe they should play a lot less games so every game means more(This is what I like about the 16 game NFL season) I am no expert but man was that a fun game to watch...even if I watched in on the internet...stupid cable TV.

Who I want to win the world series from most to least....this has no basis in who will probably win. And yes it is who I want because after all it is all about me.

Twins...I am not a homer trust me. I am not even a serious twins fan but everone loves an underdog...and hates the Yankees
St. Louis...Hey there from the midwest and they have a chance to win
Colorado...I lived there..the stadium is cool and they are the comeback kids..never count them out.
Angels...Never get any respect with Dodgers in town.
Philly... Better then the rest
Dodger, Yankees, Boston....I put them all on an even playfield of teams I don't want to win

I Hate People

It was a pleasant 42 degrees and pouring rain when I left for work this morning. As I am biking to work a make a stop at a stop sign to wait for some cars to pass before I take a left turn. When I stop I would say I was in the middle of "my" lane. I had to wait a minute for the cross traffic to clear. As I am waiting a car pulls up next to me pretty much half in "our" lane and half in the oncoming lane. When the traffic clears I start to make my left turn and the car starts to go straight across the intersection. Right from the start my sixth sense or my bicycle sense started tingling so I didn't make a hard left turn but went straight a little knowing this bozo was going to do something stupid. As he went by I shinned my nice new helmet light right in his face. The driver then proceeds to give me the hands up in the air like somehow this was my fault. Cases like that I wish I could interrupt peoples radios and give them a lecture on the rules of the road. Or maybe just call them an idiot. I know I don't always make the best choices when I bike but I am not driving a 2000 lb machine either.


Was a fun game to watch last night. Was close to the end even though it seemed like Minnesota should have been winning 40-10.

Vikings vs Packers

Oh yea this is what I was thinking about....Best shirt I have seen. On the front it says one of you will betray us...on the back it has the number 4 with the name Judas. Classic.

Cat Fight

A conversation overheard as I was filling up my water bottle

Woman #1 as passing Woman #2's office, "Hey you have a package sitting out here."
Woman #2 in what I would say a bitchy voice, "Well it can stay there until I get up and get it."
Women #1, "Allright I was just letting you know."
Woment #2 "Thank You."

I don't know the history there but there must be one.


Oh also I remember there is some type of football game tonight. I can't remember the teams or if it will be worth watching.

A New Addition

Kari has an alien in her as seen below. I am figuring when it is born we will host our own documentary like Jon and Kate pluse Eight but it will be something like Kari and Mike plus distric 9. I just hope it brings some of those cool weapons with it.

Nightrider.....

And I don't mean the suave 70 TV sereis. I mean the crazy insane driver that Mad Max deals with in Mad Max.

I went mountain bike riding at night on Wednesday. Did it with a head lamp. It was really freaking fun. Kind of spooky and couldn't really go at break neck speeds or anything but still very cool. Well that was until I clipped a tree with my handlebar and screwed up my rear tire. Luckily I was able to ride out. And I know you are thinking it but the hitting of my haddlebar on the tree had nothing to do with riding at night. Just one of those things. I can and will do it again.

I then woke up Thursday morning to the joy of riding to work in the pouring rain. Wasn't all that pleasant but not seeing a single sole on my ride in made it like I was doing something illegal. Maybe this is kind of dorky but I get a little bit of joy doing things that other people think is a little nuts. For example, mountain biking at night or biking in the pouring rain.

ALl I can think is the Nightrider line.

I am the Nightrider. I'm a fuel injected suicide machine. I am the rocker, I am the roller, I am the out-of-controller!