LIVESTRONG
this evening rob and snoopy came down from baltimore for a late afternoon assault on the Cabin John trails. snoopy called me on my cell as I was headed home from work, there was a tad sprinkle coming down, not much more, but the storm was on the horizon if I cared to look that way. Perhaps I looked the other way so I could honestly lure Rob and Snoopy down for a little 'guy time;' not exactly 'boys night out' but similar....only without the stumbling and the hangover. My words were honest...it was just a sprinkle...but the storm ahead was eminent. Sure enough, I stopped by City Bikes to grab the right tools for the job and the clouds spilled over. Some time was killed in the mechanic's area and then the shop, kicking it with the various different employees and grabbing some 17mm cone wrenches. As the time was surely not going to pass I was forced to mount up and ride home with buckets of rain falling down on me. Visibility was down, my lights blinked, but I feared the anarchy-like driving style that occurs when DC drivers encounter a storm. Every winter the same thing, some driver gets behind the wheel and says to themselves, " I can not drive in the snow!" So, THEY GUN IT! Durning Armagedon-like storms just like this evenings running red lights becomes more regular for the cars. So I rushed home gritting my teeth, avoiding all rolling obstacles, until my cell rang. It was Snoopy again. I knew it was him...sure enough it was him. I was forced to pull over in this rain and answer the phone. Long story short....I asked Snoopy to stop and get some sun screen as I was sunbathing in the backyard. Then stressed that he grabbed SPH 45 as it was getting quite bright this late in the day. There were jokes about riding....making sure that they had lights.....and that they had the right tires for the deep mud.
Once home I did my tasks as a home owner. Rainfall of this volume tends to run the risk of flooding my basement. The water volume is great, but it is the debrie that is carried that is the true villian. The leaves, mud, and silt clog the drains...when all three drains are clogged the water stacks up and soon enough the basement begins to fill up. I scurried around in my underwear and no socks cleaning all the drains...moving to the gutters....then back to the drains again. The rain slowed and drains were cleared and there was only slight mopping to be done in the basement and even the kitchen, the kitchen got wet on my entering and exiting.
Rob and Snoopy arrived and were greeted by my bare chest, sockless feet, and drentched underwear....no one batted an eye...after all it is 'guy time!'
There was no convincing Rob Wrenches Hardesty to fix my rear wheel as I walked the dogs. So I walked the dogs as he tunned my guitars.....guitars that I can not and do not play. The dogs ran wild in the woods as the rain came down. Watching the water gush down the trails showed some areas that were highly vuenerable to errosion so I threw down some dead wood and debrie to create some temporary water bars. All the while with shorts and shoes on, as I do not want to be caught in the woods soaking wet, sockless, in my underwear.
Once back with the dogs we ordered pizza and I fixed the rear hub. With the right tools it was all possible. The hub was packed, my new TIME cleats were put on my new SIDI shoes, with time for me to show my inability to play guitar all before the pizza came. During that time Snoopy had the time to give me a simple gift; a yellow rubber wrist band. I had seen these wrist bands around town, but had not known what to make of them. Had seen one on a crazy traveler telling his tale of spider bites in the mechanic section of City Bikes...I thought it was a hospital bracelet...but no...it is a LIVESTRONG band.
How can I be so in the dark with these things?
Tomorrow at work I am going to go online and make a donation and order some LIVESTRONG wrist bands for some friends, maybe even enough wristbands for Dean's whole preschool class.
hmmm....seems to be backordered
guess i will order them just the same and hand them out when they finally catch up with all the orders
this evening rob and snoopy came down from baltimore for a late afternoon assault on the Cabin John trails. snoopy called me on my cell as I was headed home from work, there was a tad sprinkle coming down, not much more, but the storm was on the horizon if I cared to look that way. Perhaps I looked the other way so I could honestly lure Rob and Snoopy down for a little 'guy time;' not exactly 'boys night out' but similar....only without the stumbling and the hangover. My words were honest...it was just a sprinkle...but the storm ahead was eminent. Sure enough, I stopped by City Bikes to grab the right tools for the job and the clouds spilled over. Some time was killed in the mechanic's area and then the shop, kicking it with the various different employees and grabbing some 17mm cone wrenches. As the time was surely not going to pass I was forced to mount up and ride home with buckets of rain falling down on me. Visibility was down, my lights blinked, but I feared the anarchy-like driving style that occurs when DC drivers encounter a storm. Every winter the same thing, some driver gets behind the wheel and says to themselves, " I can not drive in the snow!" So, THEY GUN IT! Durning Armagedon-like storms just like this evenings running red lights becomes more regular for the cars. So I rushed home gritting my teeth, avoiding all rolling obstacles, until my cell rang. It was Snoopy again. I knew it was him...sure enough it was him. I was forced to pull over in this rain and answer the phone. Long story short....I asked Snoopy to stop and get some sun screen as I was sunbathing in the backyard. Then stressed that he grabbed SPH 45 as it was getting quite bright this late in the day. There were jokes about riding....making sure that they had lights.....and that they had the right tires for the deep mud.
Once home I did my tasks as a home owner. Rainfall of this volume tends to run the risk of flooding my basement. The water volume is great, but it is the debrie that is carried that is the true villian. The leaves, mud, and silt clog the drains...when all three drains are clogged the water stacks up and soon enough the basement begins to fill up. I scurried around in my underwear and no socks cleaning all the drains...moving to the gutters....then back to the drains again. The rain slowed and drains were cleared and there was only slight mopping to be done in the basement and even the kitchen, the kitchen got wet on my entering and exiting.
Rob and Snoopy arrived and were greeted by my bare chest, sockless feet, and drentched underwear....no one batted an eye...after all it is 'guy time!'
There was no convincing Rob Wrenches Hardesty to fix my rear wheel as I walked the dogs. So I walked the dogs as he tunned my guitars.....guitars that I can not and do not play. The dogs ran wild in the woods as the rain came down. Watching the water gush down the trails showed some areas that were highly vuenerable to errosion so I threw down some dead wood and debrie to create some temporary water bars. All the while with shorts and shoes on, as I do not want to be caught in the woods soaking wet, sockless, in my underwear.
Once back with the dogs we ordered pizza and I fixed the rear hub. With the right tools it was all possible. The hub was packed, my new TIME cleats were put on my new SIDI shoes, with time for me to show my inability to play guitar all before the pizza came. During that time Snoopy had the time to give me a simple gift; a yellow rubber wrist band. I had seen these wrist bands around town, but had not known what to make of them. Had seen one on a crazy traveler telling his tale of spider bites in the mechanic section of City Bikes...I thought it was a hospital bracelet...but no...it is a LIVESTRONG band.
How can I be so in the dark with these things?
Tomorrow at work I am going to go online and make a donation and order some LIVESTRONG wrist bands for some friends, maybe even enough wristbands for Dean's whole preschool class.
hmmm....seems to be backordered
guess i will order them just the same and hand them out when they finally catch up with all the orders