Fun and Games Dept

Last night I hit the road on my bike and made a 14 or so mile trek around the area. It was a beautiful night for a ride; there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the breeze was strong enough just to keep things relatively decent as far as temperature goes and the humidity wasn’t stifling.

I have been wanting to get in shape for the next long ride I’d like to conquer, which I think is going to be 80 miles or so during the Fourth of July weekend. Because we live in a hilly part of the state, I can’t really avoid hills if I want to ride somewhere interesting, so last night I decided to tackle some of the bigger hills in the area.

One of the things asked of a cyclist is “what do you do about this hills and mountains?” My cheery answer is: “I ride down the other side. Really fast.” The climb up the hill north of the city was slow but steady. It took about 30 minutes to go four or so miles and I was in one of the lowest gears on my bike. I usually end up stopping along these types of climbs so that I can catch my breath, but last night I trudged my way up without having to stop. Once I was on top of the hill I made my way over to our road so that I could make the quick journey down.

That was fun.

The ride down took about four minutes to go two miles. Top speed was 39 MPH (according to the GPS). I went from 950 feet ASL to 550 feet ASL. The road had just been paved so it was really smooth. It was awesome and scary.

And I’d do it again in a second.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

So this past weekend Earl and I saddled up Jamie and Scott and we headed to the Windy City for an extended weekend vacation. The occasion was a bear run called BearPride. The forecast for the event was that there would be big burly guys that like other big burly guys, and their admirers. The forecast was right. Lots of eye candy to behold.

Wednesday afternoon we headed west on Interstate 90. All was good and normal, including the mandatory construction in Erie, Pa. (why is Pennsylvania ALWAYS under construction?), until we got to Cleveland, Ohio. Where dark, ominous clouds littered the sky. The winds picked up, rotation in the clouds was evident and the skies let loose as the winds went crazy. As I was behind the wheel, we continued through the storm, watching many cars hydroplane and others try to drive through the flooded out roads, but we held our own and was only delayed a little bit.

Interstate 90.

We ended up spending the night in beautiful Toledo, Ohio. We made the rest of the trek to Chicago on Thursday, where we arrived mid-afternoon. And it was cold. Very cold. Like 50Fs cold. But we didn’t let that dampen our spirits too much.

Thursday we socialized and ran into some old friends and made plenty of new ones.

Earl enjoyed carrying Jamie’s camera.

Strangled in Print.

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza which is right next to Interstate 90. A good hotel, for the most part and a place I would stay again. It is on the edge of Greektown, so we went to a couple of Greek restaurants, an Irish pub and an Italian place. It all makes sense when you think about it in a worldly way.

Scott and Earl at the Irish Pub. We were deaf because two women saw each other for the first time since college (which appeared to be a few decades ago) and they screamed so loud they shattered every beer glass within a five block radius.

Our view was quite nice.

Daytime.

Nighttime.

On Friday we met up with our friends Jeff and Mark from North Carolina. They were not at the bear event, but rather at the leather event at the Hyatt Regency on Wacker Drive. I am curious about this name Wacker Drive. It seems suggestive in some ways but it was an appropriate setting for the various goings on in the Windy City. Dinner was good. I think the place we went to was called McCormick and Schmicks. We are going to visit Jeff and Mark in North Carolina sometime this autumn. It’s been too long since I’ve seen them and now everyone else has met them and all is good.

Saturday night we went to the 80s dance party that didn’t have a lot of dance music but it did feature a lot of men dancing in boxer shorts. I opted to wear my Captain America boxer shorts with Captain America’s shield keeping me “well protected”.  Sorry, no photos were taken because I’m shy. We had a lot of fun though and it’s been a long time since Earl and I danced on a dance floor together.

On Sunday we went back to the IML (the leather event) to pass through the vendor mart and buy some things to spice up our life. It is there that I met up with a bundle of hot muscle, Brettcajun himself. I always like meeting other bloggers and Brett is just like he is in his blog. LOL.

It continued to rain throughout the day on Sunday but at least it was warm enough to be able to get through the city streets without your beard frosting up.

Rain.

All in all it was a very relaxing and fun weekend for us and we were very happy for the experience. When we left on Monday it was sunny and nearly 80F. Mother Nature can be that way.

Relaxed bears.

The plan was to leave for Chicago Wednesday night at 6. We’d find a cheap hotel tomorrow night and finish the drive on Thursday. However, Earl started has tomorrow off from work and everyone is in vacation mode. So I stepped out of the box and requested half a day off tomorrow.

So we’ll be on the road between 1 and 2. Holy Toledo, I think we might make it to Toledo tomorrow night.

I am sitting near my alternate Dunkin Donuts for my lunch hour today. I need a change of pace and/or a different view. The reasoning mirrors my changes in my commuting route on a daily basis.

I am currently being stared down by a seagull. He apparently thinks that I should toss something out the window so he can take a sample and then start screaming to all his friends, urging them to bomb my black vehicle. This is their way of saying thank you.

I think I’m a little confused about the presence of the seagulls. For one, there are never seagulls near the other Dunkin Donuts, which is only three miles away. I can understand the idea that there are seagulls here, despite the fact that we are not near the sea, because we have lots and lots of seagulls on the shores of Lake Ontario, including one of my most favorite spots in the whole wide world, Southwick Beach State Park. However, I am not near Lake Ontario or any other Great Lake at the moment, though I suppose my relative proximity to Great Sacandaga Lake may account for their presence. I haven’t spent enough time near Great Sacandaga Lake to determine if it warrants it’s title of “great”. Perhaps I can make that determination this summer.

I’m left to ponder that if the seagulls call this local lake home, how did they get here? What brought them from the sea to this location? Did they start flying along the St. Lawrence River and then make a sudden left so they could get a scenic view of the Adirondacks? Was another gull yammering when they trying to follow their GPS and they inadvertently made a wrong turn?

Nevertheless, they are sitting here waiting for something to fall out of someone’s car. I bet they prefer Burger King to Dunkin Donuts.

And yes, I still have one just staring me down. He stares without comment and without enlightenment.

Premiere., originally uploaded by iMachias.

I was delighted to see that the first dandelions have arrived in our lawn, a sure sign that spring is finally here. I know that most people don’t like dandelions but I like the color that they bring to the lawn, especially when everything else is still leaning towards brown. You can barely make out in this photo that there’s some purple flowers showing their support of the dandelions as well.

Another sure sign of spring is also upon us; Crazy Cat Lady is ringing her cowbell while standing on her back porch. She is calling her cat with the cowbell. Tom, our cat, just looks in that direction with an air of disinterest. He says, “pfffff. Cowbell.” Then he goes back to napping.

Back in 2005 when we purchased the Acura RSX I talked about the fact that I had dreams of driving this car in the desert. I wanted to drive fast on the open road where I could legally do so.

It is six years later and I have not made this dream come true yet. The farthest west I’ve been in the car is just beyond St. Louis. Earl and I have been toying with the idea of getting a new car and I have been eyeing a new Jeep Wrangler. While this would be quite fun, it doesn’t quite make economic sense for a couple of reasons, including the fact that gas is damn expensive and I have a lengthy commute.

This morning before work I did a little research into all weather tires for the Acura, after all, the thought behind replacing it is because I don’t drive the car all year ’round. All weather tires aren’t nearly as bad as I thought they would be. I actually could buy all year tires and performance tires for the amount of money I thought just all year tires would be. The car is paid for and running quite well, so why would I want to add a car payment to the budget when I don’t have to? Just to drive something newer?

So I’ve been thinking that we need to keep the Acura for as long it’s economically feasible. Writing this down in my blog is my way of cementing that thought process. Besides, I look damn good behind the wheel and the car still handles like a dream. A little detailing and TLC and he’s ready to go vroom again.

Besides, we still have an appointment with the salt flats.

I am totally addicted to Words With Friends, the Scrabble-like game on the iPhone, iPad, iPod and Android devices. I seem to recall reading that you could play through Facebook but I haven’t figured out how, yet.

I used to use a dictionary program to nudge me along but I stopped that a while back, it’s better to exercise the brain. I’m still kicking some major butt so all is well. Once in a while Earl will step in for one of my turns he’s gone on business so it’s all me.

If you want to play, my username is imachias.

Back to the game…

Today I have a big smile on my face. It was 15 years ago today that Earl and I had our first date in the lovely city of Albany, N.Y. The date ended up being a six hour drive through the mountains of Vermont and the beginning of a lifetime journey together. When he put my hand on my leg as I was driving my little ’94 Hyundai Excel, I knew that hand would be there forever.

‘Tis true, the man still makes me see fireworks. And smile. A lot.

Just Gorges., originally uploaded by iMachias.

Dear Mother Nature,

I know it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature, and believe me, I have no intention of doing so, but I’m a little disheartened to see that you’re planning on dumping over a foot of snow on our little community tonight.

You see, the calendar says that it’s really close to spring, and while I don’t particularly enjoy the flooded yard or the gray skies, I do like the hopes of a dandelion appearing in our lawn some time before the Fourth of July. It would make me very happy. To compensate for this weather and the effects on my mood, I will be taking extra Vitamin D.

I know that we are suppose to love the snow here in Central New York, but I think we are getting a little sick of it. You’ll probably be still playing this whimsical game come May or June, but could you consider a break for just a moment?

I have included a photo with this post to show you when I’m quite happy with Central New York weather, just as a reminder. I would have autographed it but the computer doesn’t let me do that.

Fondly,