this is the classic post...
a post started but never finished
a post started but never proofed
without a proof... it is tough to bother to hit PUBLISH AND POST
I will give this a quick scan and throw it on the page
not sure if there is any meat to this message... but I figure it should hit the page just as well
some highlights from this post
-Monday
-flat repair clinic given to my kindergarten age son's class
-ran into Mayor Fenty and became his MVP for the day
-sore from racing my bike the day prior
here is what came off the top of my head as I drank that third cup of coffee...
here it is Monday... Monday Afternoon... okay... now it is Monday Night... as I edit time has changed... many moons have passed... this it is Wednesday... Wednesday Morning
started this post but never really got things started... hectic day
not sure if I will try to work this thing out
the moment may be gone
yes... today I was Adrian Fenty's MVP
the morning came on with that shock that Monday often delivers...
ugh! IT IS MONDAY!
everyone was a little slow out of the gate
everyone in the house was questioning if there was just one more day to the weekend
my body was sore from a day of racing my mountain bike on Sunday
while both Dean and Grant were clearly dragging from having sleep overs on both Friday and Saturday this weekend the morning arrived with a little precipitation as the boys got dressed I asked if they wanted to ride their bikes home from school
there was mention of the rain there was no hesitation...
the rain did not offer any threat in fact Dean added that he thought it was fun to get to ride his bike in the rain last week
so it was decided... the boys would ride their bikes home from school which of course meant that I needed to load the bikes into the car
in the garage I am reminded...
GRANT GOT A FLAT LAST NIGHT
one more barrier to over come
with the Honda Element packed with my kids... a kid from down the block... two bikes... and my black dog Brutus we headed across town
down the hill and then up the hill to the kid's school
to assure that Dean gets to class on time I send him off ahead
each time I give him a list of safety instructions for crossing the streets
with the flat tire we walked Grant's bike to school
I offered to take Grant's bike
Grant objected... Grant walked his bike with pride knowing that it would be fixed and he would be able to ride it home from school after I handle the flat repair
in the school I breeze through and say hello to the teachers and give high fives to a large assortment of kids... lots of high fives
then out the door with a mental list of what needs to happen
having scanned the garage for a 20 inch tube the night prior I knew that I would have to buy a new tube or patch the old one
with my fingers crossed I thought I could find what I was looking for at Target
with the dog in the car I headed for the woods
at the corner of Connecticut and Porter I saw some people campaigning for Mayor Adrian Fenty
at a closer glance I saw that one of the people in this gathering was Adrian himself
having the time I decided to stop and say hello
with all sorts of energy and enthusiasm the Fenty supporters worked to get support from passerbys
eye contact and hand shakes then a request for name and email addresses
I got some eye contact and I got a hand shake but I wanted more
I wanted to see if I could plant some seeds
I wanted to see if I could catch Fenty's attention and push for an increase in the pedestrian and bicycle safety campaigns
in between passerbys I chewed Adrian's ear
I was short and concise trying to get a simple message across...
DC A CIVIL CITY
I made mention that DC should not be "the murder capital" we should redefine the DC identity
make DC a better place... make DC Civil... make DC A CIVIL CITY
again I stepped aside and let Fenty shake hands and gather support
then when there were no passerbys.... I stepped back in and chewed his ear some more
there was mention of his father...
then a short discussion of his kids
I spoke about how I was surprised to see his dad driving his car so close to his work
Adrian defended him saying he had to take "the twins" to baseball
after asking their ages I thought... maybe they should ride their bikes to practice and if the streets are not safe enough for the kids to ride their bikes we should work to make them more safe
their mini rally was over I got my two cents in
Adrian called me over as he packed up his gear
with pride Adrian pointed out his SMART CAR and boasted about its excellent gas mileage
then the mayor invited me into his group for one more action
Adrian told me that every day after they pound the pavement they gather like a sports team in a little circle and do a short cheer
I was dubbed MVP and got to lead the cheer
ONE TWO THREE.... FENTY... FENTY... FENTY!
one last hand shake then Adrian directed me to get the email address of his campaign from woman by his side
then we were on with our day
down the hill and into the park
I parked the car at Klingle Mansion and walked the dog on The Melvin Hazen Trail
the woods are lush and green in the foreground I could hear a wide assortment of bird activity if I focused on the birds I could almost drown out the sound of leaf blowers and car horns in the distance
the hike was short there are things that need to get done
exercising the dog is not as vital as it was when he was young
with the dog still in the car I headed to Target in search of a 20 inch inner tube
with no list drawn up I focused on a few things... first the inner tube... then Mentos and 2 Liter bottles of soda
after that... anything in between is fine
BONUS! they had the tubes I was looking for
DOUBLE BONUS! SODA AND MENTOS ARE MARKED DOWN
the science fair project is not going to be that costly... just very sticky
yes... Dean and I are going to try and do something with the Mentos-Soda Bottle Fountain as his science fair project
shocked that I spent nearly 200 dollars on nothing I left for home
before I could unpack the groceries I got a call it was my wife Lisa telling me she had forgotten to put the promised chili in Dean's lunch
so I heated up some chili, filled up a thermos with chili and macaroni, and headed back to the kid's school
bringing what I needed to repair Grant's flat tire
at school I was greeted by another 100 high fives
the boys were stoked to see me
Grant was so stoked to see me that I asked his teacher if I could give an instruction on "how to fix a flat tire..."
the tutorial went well
we started off with some basic Q&A.... "who has a bike? who knows how to ride a bike? who rides a bike with training wheels? who rides a bike without training wheels?
then there was a breakdown of the bike... again some Q&A... which of course is a dangerous thing as all the children have a vital anecdote that they feel is related to the topic at hand
being the soccer coach for a number of these kids there were children who wanted to tell me about soccer...
we tried to stay on task... but we also did not want to rudely shut anyone down
the flat was repaired and the children were still well entertained from the talk about the parts of the bike and the right tool for the job
we moved to bicycle safety
there was talk about helmets
there was talk about the dangers of cars
I could have talked all day... but I needed to wind things up and do some stuff before it was time to pick them up
I was pleased with my impromptu presentation it all seemed like good preparation for Wednesday's presentation to my older son Dean's class
on Wednesday I am meeting with Dean's Class to lead an advocacy session each student in the class is going to write a letter to Michelle Obama and the MOVE IT campaign to try and get mountain biking in Rock Creek Park legal
once home I unpacked the stuff from Target and did a few things... not much time before I had to get on my bike and ride across town to ride home with the boys
the boys were nothing short of stoked to be able to get on their bikes after school
the ride home is not always direct
we often extend the ride or tool around on the bikes on the way home
the journey is the destination
that was Monday... just one day
a day among many days
the rest of the week would deliver more of the same
http://www.fentyreelect.com/
http://www.letsmove.gov/
a post started but never finished
a post started but never proofed
without a proof... it is tough to bother to hit PUBLISH AND POST
I will give this a quick scan and throw it on the page
not sure if there is any meat to this message... but I figure it should hit the page just as well
some highlights from this post
-Monday
-flat repair clinic given to my kindergarten age son's class
-ran into Mayor Fenty and became his MVP for the day
-sore from racing my bike the day prior
here is what came off the top of my head as I drank that third cup of coffee...
here it is Monday... Monday Afternoon... okay... now it is Monday Night... as I edit time has changed... many moons have passed... this it is Wednesday... Wednesday Morning
started this post but never really got things started... hectic day
not sure if I will try to work this thing out
the moment may be gone
yes... today I was Adrian Fenty's MVP
the morning came on with that shock that Monday often delivers...
ugh! IT IS MONDAY!
everyone was a little slow out of the gate
everyone in the house was questioning if there was just one more day to the weekend
my body was sore from a day of racing my mountain bike on Sunday
while both Dean and Grant were clearly dragging from having sleep overs on both Friday and Saturday this weekend the morning arrived with a little precipitation as the boys got dressed I asked if they wanted to ride their bikes home from school
there was mention of the rain there was no hesitation...
the rain did not offer any threat in fact Dean added that he thought it was fun to get to ride his bike in the rain last week
so it was decided... the boys would ride their bikes home from school which of course meant that I needed to load the bikes into the car
in the garage I am reminded...
GRANT GOT A FLAT LAST NIGHT
one more barrier to over come
with the Honda Element packed with my kids... a kid from down the block... two bikes... and my black dog Brutus we headed across town
down the hill and then up the hill to the kid's school
to assure that Dean gets to class on time I send him off ahead
each time I give him a list of safety instructions for crossing the streets
with the flat tire we walked Grant's bike to school
I offered to take Grant's bike
Grant objected... Grant walked his bike with pride knowing that it would be fixed and he would be able to ride it home from school after I handle the flat repair
in the school I breeze through and say hello to the teachers and give high fives to a large assortment of kids... lots of high fives
then out the door with a mental list of what needs to happen
having scanned the garage for a 20 inch tube the night prior I knew that I would have to buy a new tube or patch the old one
with my fingers crossed I thought I could find what I was looking for at Target
with the dog in the car I headed for the woods
at the corner of Connecticut and Porter I saw some people campaigning for Mayor Adrian Fenty
at a closer glance I saw that one of the people in this gathering was Adrian himself
having the time I decided to stop and say hello
with all sorts of energy and enthusiasm the Fenty supporters worked to get support from passerbys
eye contact and hand shakes then a request for name and email addresses
I got some eye contact and I got a hand shake but I wanted more
I wanted to see if I could plant some seeds
I wanted to see if I could catch Fenty's attention and push for an increase in the pedestrian and bicycle safety campaigns
in between passerbys I chewed Adrian's ear
I was short and concise trying to get a simple message across...
DC A CIVIL CITY
I made mention that DC should not be "the murder capital" we should redefine the DC identity
make DC a better place... make DC Civil... make DC A CIVIL CITY
again I stepped aside and let Fenty shake hands and gather support
then when there were no passerbys.... I stepped back in and chewed his ear some more
there was mention of his father...
then a short discussion of his kids
I spoke about how I was surprised to see his dad driving his car so close to his work
Adrian defended him saying he had to take "the twins" to baseball
after asking their ages I thought... maybe they should ride their bikes to practice and if the streets are not safe enough for the kids to ride their bikes we should work to make them more safe
their mini rally was over I got my two cents in
Adrian called me over as he packed up his gear
with pride Adrian pointed out his SMART CAR and boasted about its excellent gas mileage
then the mayor invited me into his group for one more action
Adrian told me that every day after they pound the pavement they gather like a sports team in a little circle and do a short cheer
I was dubbed MVP and got to lead the cheer
ONE TWO THREE.... FENTY... FENTY... FENTY!
one last hand shake then Adrian directed me to get the email address of his campaign from woman by his side
then we were on with our day
down the hill and into the park
I parked the car at Klingle Mansion and walked the dog on The Melvin Hazen Trail
the woods are lush and green in the foreground I could hear a wide assortment of bird activity if I focused on the birds I could almost drown out the sound of leaf blowers and car horns in the distance
the hike was short there are things that need to get done
exercising the dog is not as vital as it was when he was young
with the dog still in the car I headed to Target in search of a 20 inch inner tube
with no list drawn up I focused on a few things... first the inner tube... then Mentos and 2 Liter bottles of soda
after that... anything in between is fine
BONUS! they had the tubes I was looking for
DOUBLE BONUS! SODA AND MENTOS ARE MARKED DOWN
the science fair project is not going to be that costly... just very sticky
yes... Dean and I are going to try and do something with the Mentos-Soda Bottle Fountain as his science fair project
shocked that I spent nearly 200 dollars on nothing I left for home
before I could unpack the groceries I got a call it was my wife Lisa telling me she had forgotten to put the promised chili in Dean's lunch
so I heated up some chili, filled up a thermos with chili and macaroni, and headed back to the kid's school
bringing what I needed to repair Grant's flat tire
at school I was greeted by another 100 high fives
the boys were stoked to see me
Grant was so stoked to see me that I asked his teacher if I could give an instruction on "how to fix a flat tire..."
the tutorial went well
we started off with some basic Q&A.... "who has a bike? who knows how to ride a bike? who rides a bike with training wheels? who rides a bike without training wheels?
then there was a breakdown of the bike... again some Q&A... which of course is a dangerous thing as all the children have a vital anecdote that they feel is related to the topic at hand
being the soccer coach for a number of these kids there were children who wanted to tell me about soccer...
we tried to stay on task... but we also did not want to rudely shut anyone down
the flat was repaired and the children were still well entertained from the talk about the parts of the bike and the right tool for the job
we moved to bicycle safety
there was talk about helmets
there was talk about the dangers of cars
I could have talked all day... but I needed to wind things up and do some stuff before it was time to pick them up
I was pleased with my impromptu presentation it all seemed like good preparation for Wednesday's presentation to my older son Dean's class
on Wednesday I am meeting with Dean's Class to lead an advocacy session each student in the class is going to write a letter to Michelle Obama and the MOVE IT campaign to try and get mountain biking in Rock Creek Park legal
once home I unpacked the stuff from Target and did a few things... not much time before I had to get on my bike and ride across town to ride home with the boys
the boys were nothing short of stoked to be able to get on their bikes after school
the ride home is not always direct
we often extend the ride or tool around on the bikes on the way home
the journey is the destination
that was Monday... just one day
a day among many days
the rest of the week would deliver more of the same
http://www.fentyreelect.com/
http://www.letsmove.gov/