June 17, 2003

Monday, Monday. So Good To Me.

I think that’s how the song by the Mamas and the Papas goes. Anyways – it’s summer! Well, actually summer begins on Saturday, but the weather seems to have finally made its way to summer here in Central N.Y. Clear, sunny skies and mid 70s… perfect!

Earl and I had a busy weekend. Friday night we trekked up to Watertown to a little restaurant called Barkeaters for supper. I don’t know that it was worth 160 miles round trip, as it’s just an eatery in a mall, but then again, when do we ever do anything that makes sense. Last week was very tough for both of us work-wise, so it was a nice escape.

And then on Saturday, we decided to continue the escape. Got up at 9:00 and on the road at 9:30 a.m. I have a new project for my road-geek website. I’m going to get a picture of me standing next to a sign for all 62 counties in New York State. We knocked off ten of them on Saturday. We ended up driving out as far as Erie, Pa., where we then had dinner at Red River Roadhouse at Millcreek Mall (again) and then came straight home on the Thruway. We got home at 1:30 a.m. So that wasn’t too bad, only 16 hours. Our record is 19 hours… πŸ™‚ And the food in Erie, Pa. was great as usual.

On Sunday, my Dad and his girlfriend Karen, and my sister came over for a little cookout for Father’s Day. It’s always nice to get together with them. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits. We’ve made plans to all go to Kingston, Ontario in July for the day which should be a good time.

Since the weather is suppose to be great straight through the whole week, I am on my bike big time commuting back and forth to work. I got a nice early start this morning and was taking a leisurely ride when something caught my tire and ripped a nice gash right through it. I was able to patch up the tube, but the tire was shot and I could feel the bump-bump of the gash for the rest of the ride to work. I made it just at 9:00 a.m. since I rode a little slower. Earl picked me up from work this afternoon and we drove the bike over to the bike shop, where it’s getting a new tire and some gear adjustments. I guess I’m going to have to face the fact that I shouldn’t be riding my road bike to work as the ride is just too rough on the bike, so I’m going to join the masses and ride my older hybrid back and forth to work. I hadn’t ridden the hybrid since last summer, so I jumped on it after work and rode up the street and back. While it does ride nice, I forgot how much extra work is involved with riding it… it needs a lot more effort to get it going! πŸ™‚ But the tires are much sturdier and I suppose I’ll get a better workout on it. Tomorrow after work I’m going to drop off the hybrid at the bike shop for a tune-up and pick up my road bike at the same time. Then we’ll go back and pick up the hybrid after supper so I can ride it to work on Wednesday.

I’ve been having a few allergy related sniffles today, which is kind of odd because I didn’t get too sniffly this time last year. I think I’m going to have to meditate upon that a little bit tonight because I absolutely refuse to be physically ill or have allergies of any kind. I woke up at 3:00 a.m. this morning all sniffly so I downed a Claratin, which made me irritable. I wasn’t trying to be irritable mind you, I just was. I was conscious of it at work and trying to be at my best, but I suppose I was a little snappy. So no more Claritin. Maybe I need to drink more water or something. The de-tox dandelion tea is working well, but it makes my kidneys hurt. I don’t know if it’s suppose to do that.

I’m going wild and woolly for a while with a little fuzz on top and a little fuzzy beard. I’m going to let the beard grow (I’d like to let it grow until Christmas!) and keep my hair buzzed. It’s a look I feel comfortable in. Today anyways.

I haven’t had a Xena dream in a week or so. However, I did order the Xena soundtrack to the “Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire” episode which has a bunch of great music on it. I’m really looking forward to having that CD for the car. Earl and I have saved that episode on TiVo and we watch it weekly for a pick-me-up of sorts. πŸ™‚ Actually, my dreams have been unimpressive the past few days. Maybe I’ve hit a low spot in my astrological cycle or something. Maybe I’ve eaten too much meat. Maybe my chakras need cleansing. Who knows. At least I’m feeling a little more focused.