I am Back

Today is the happiest I have been in a long time. I have been having issues with my back for a while now. About a month ago in preparation for the upcoming triathlon, I started with some light running. That did not go well at all. My back would tighten up on me after only a minute or two of running. At that point I told myself, I would wait until June until I attempted to run again. Well I am a day early on the running. But I just ran a half a mile 100% pain free. I wanted to keep going but I thought better of it. It is the first time that I have run any measurable distance without pain in a year and a half. Today is a good day.

Memorial Day Reminder

This is my annual Memorial Day reminder. It looks like the weather is going to be beautiful this weekend. It should be around 80 and sunny most of the weekend in these parts. But while you are enjoying your long weekend grilling out, or watching the kids play soccer, or whatever your weekend plans are, take a moment to remember why you are celebrating Memorial Day, and what this day means. My advice to you, get out of the house and go for a 10 minute walk, look up at the blue sky, take a deep breath of fresh air and think about the sacrifice of life many have laid down for you to enjoy your freedom. And also think about those who are currently defending our freedom.

I plan on spending my weekend getting my house ready for the Freeman Party. I also have a couple parties to go to. And what promises to be the highlight of the weekend, The Doors in concert at the Pabst Theatre. Well not all of The Doors but half of them, Ray and Robbie. Taking a page from The General, "If I could hear just one song, what would it be?" That one is easy, "Soft Parade". I will also make some time this weekend to watch "Saving Private Ryan", or at least the first 45 minutes when they storm the beaches.

Freeman Party Teaser

The Freeman Party is a week away. It has taken me a lot of years, 8 to be exact, to get this party to a point where I think I finally have it right. I think it is a safe assumption to say that what makes this party a success are the games. So going into this year's party, I thought I would recap the notable past winners in the more popular and staple events of the party.

The Water Balloon Toss
2003 Phil Foti and Jake Burac (Tom Brady)
2006 Kim Burac and Jake Burac (Tom Brady)
2007 Dawn Magnuson and The General
2009 Julie Davies and Brian Eggener

Kids Musical Chairs
2004 Nicholas Davies (Pickle)
2006 Zachary Davies
2007 Lindsey Coonen (Boomer)
2009 Lindsey Coonen (Boomer)

Female Musical Chairs
2004 Vanessa Bahr (Pookie)
2006 Jodi Davies
2007 Lisa Nordstrom (Liquid)
2009 Suzanne Achtner

Male Musical Chairs
2002 Jim (Tree) Havlik
2003 Jay (Jota) Kempen
2004 Justus (Melon) Klink
2006 Jay (Jota) Kempen
2007 Justin Sherman
2009 Jon Davies

And what has become my favorite event of the party, the Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament
2009 Tim Coonen

The weather forecast for the event calls for a 30% chance of showers and a high temp of 71 degrees. That isn't 86 and sunny but much better than the 46 degrees we endured last year.

Lyric of the Day:
Oh no no no no, Baby something's wrong.
Oh no no no no, That old time fire is gone.
It's not so much the things you say, love.
It what you don't say that I am afraid of.

Bobby and JFK

I tried to get more information on this iconic photo, but came up pretty empty. This is Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy conferring with his brother & campaign organizer Bobby Kennedy in a Los Angeles hotel suite in July, 1960. Photo by Hank Walker.Here I am conferring with my campaign organizer, Borky, in a Wausau, Wisconsin hotel May, 2010. In all likelihood we are having a conversation of the same topic as the Kennedy boys. Photo by Myra Wang.Lyric of the Day:
And as I watch the drops of rain.

Weave their weary paths and die.

I know that I am like the rain.

There but for the grace of you go I.

When You Mess With The Bull, You Get The Horns

I ran across this on the internet. It is a bit disturbing. So for those with a weak stomach don't follow this link. But I think that bull fighters get what they deserve. Afterall the bull dies at the end of it all.

TJ and Kelly's Wedding Part II

Lyric of the Day:

I see the world, feel the chill.

Which way to go, window sill.

I see the world on a rocking horse of time.

I see the birds in the rain.

Oh dear dad, can you see this now.

I am myself, like you somehow.

I ride the wave where it takes me.

I hold the pain.

Release me.

TJ and Kelly's Wedding

Here are some photos from TJ and Kelly's wedding from this past weekend.

Here is one well stocked bar.It has been a while since I have been to a pig roast. Maybe next year for the Freeman Party.

Lyric of the Day:

For standing in your heart is where I want to be, and I long to be.

Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind.

Happy Birthday

A quick Happy Birthday to my brother, Dan. 42 years. Wow.Lyric of the Day:
The percentage you're paying is too high priced.
While your living beyond all your means.
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car.
From the profit he's made on your dreams.
But today you just read that the man was shot dead.
By a gun that didn't make any noise.
But it wasn't the bullet that laid him to rest.
Was the low spark of high heeled boys.

The Weekend Ahead

I am pretty excited about this weekend. It is my friend, TJ's, wedding in Wausau. TJ is one of the many friends from Minnesota that I have stole away from Krum. (If you don't know that story, well that is for another day) Initially I was going to head up to Wausau on Saturday. I didn't want to grab a hotel room for two nights. But last week Borky sent me a text that I could share their room with them on Friday night. I assume that the Borkys have their love making session/sessions scheduled for Saturday night. So this wedding will get me back together with my Minnesota friends for a weekend.

Lyric of not only the day but the entire weekend:
They sat together in the park.
As the evening sky grew dark.
She looked at him and he felt a spark.
Tingle to his bones.
It was then he felt alone.
And that he'd gone straight.
And watched out for a simple twist of fate.

For Whom the Bell Tolls (Hells Bells)

I am not going to pile on. I am just going to give the facts.

Trevor Hoffman.
He has converted 5 of his 10 save opportunities this season. And only 2 of the last 7.
He has given up 19 earned runs on 21 hits in only 13 innings.
Yesterday he failed to record a single out in blowing yet another save opportunity.
He currently has 596 career saves.
The question at the beginning of the season was "When will he hit 600 saves?" The season is nearly 1/4 of the way through and that question may soon be "Will he hit 600 saves?"

If you want to talk about money, well Hoffman signed a contract for $7.5 million for the 2010, with a mutual option for the 2011 season that has a $500,000 buyout. That guarantees Hoffman $8 million dollars.

How will Trevor Hoffman's season end?
	He breaks out of his slump and records 50 saves.
	He will reach 600 saves.
	He won't reach 600 saves. (just 4 more)
	The Brewers sign me (bad shoulder and all) to replace him.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Weekend Recap

How was my weekend? Pretty good. I started out with a trip to Madison right after work on Friday night. I met up with Joe and Dawn, then we picked up Jota and went to grab dinner on campus. After dinner we met up with Jota's wife, Shelly, then adjourned to Paul's Bar on State Street. Paul's is right by the capital. It is hard to forget, I believe it is the only bar in Madison that has a tree in the middle of it. It wasn't until around 11:30 or so when we finally met up with my cousin, Pocahontas. (I realized this weekend, that once I give someone a nickname, if I try to use their real name no one know who I am talking about. Kim, Jake and Mike mean absolutely nothing to my friends, they only know Pocahontas, Tom Brady and MKA.) The reason I was in Madison was for Pocahontas' graduation from Pharmacy School. We were with them passing around boots at the Essen House until bar time.

When I graduated from college many years ago, there was a party. And at the party, my sister gave me a t-shirt and had everyone at the party sign the shirt. Pocahontas, who was 12 at the time, signed it "I will finish in 4 years!!!" This was because I was on the 5 1/2 year plan, for the slower engineering students. This came up Friday night. Please let the record show that it took Pocahontas 6 years to graduate. Now some may make the claim that procuring a degree from Pharmacy School is a bit more challenging than an Engineering degree. But I will leave that topic for a debate on another day.
Here are just a couple of photos. Pocahontas, Jessie and my aunt Marilyn.M.K.A. helping Pocahontas get out the door at bar time.

Saturday was a pretty big day. I had a lot going on. I stayed at the Magnusson Bed and Breakfast Friday night. I was up and out the door at 6:17 a.m. First order of business for Saturday was to get in a training ride around Pewaukee Lake for my upcoming triathlon. I showed vast improvement cutting my time from 59 minutes down to 54 minutes. My goal is to get that time down to 45 minutes. I still have a lot of work to do. But the highlight of the ride came with maybe a mile to go. As I was approaching an intersection, there was another bicyclist approaching the same intersection from a different direction. This guy was decked out head to toe and all about biking. Helmet, jersey, gloves, shorts, shoes and a bike that was probably in the $2,000 neighborhood. Based on his looks I let him take the lead in front of me, figuring that if I was in front of him, he would just pass me right away. Wrong. In fact way wrong. I kept waiting for this guy to drop the anchor but he didn't, he was just out for a nice slow ride. I thought about passing him, but I knew I would be pulling over right away because I was almost done. So that made me feel good that I could not only keep up with this donkey, but also very easily could have passed him. I have mentioned it before and I will say it again, one of the greatest joys of doing a triathlon is when I pass some clown like this guy and his $2,000 bike, on my bike that is 20 years old and ring the bell on my bike. So with the training for the day out of the way, I headed home and cut the grass and cleaned the house. I knew that I would be inviting anyone from the wedding ceremony to my house before reception.

Saturday afternoon was Roman's wedding. I have a couple of thoughts on catholic weddings and priests that I will wait for another day to discuss. The service was fine, just a little long for my taste. Another sidebar to the service. How is it possible that people continue to leave their cell phones on during a church service? If you are really that important that can't turn your phone off for a church service, then don't even go. Or maybe you are that important but just forgetful. Sure that is possible, but that is the first thing I think about when going to church. I fail to understand how that can happen. Incredibly disrespectful.

As far as the reception. Bubs, I have to hand it to you. You had a great speech. It was thoughtful and touching as well as having enough humor so that it wasn't too sappy. Although I still have to say that the speech that Bob gave at his wedding is still number one in my book. And then there is Justus. After Bubs' speech, Amy's maid of honor started giving her speech. She got about 4 or 5 sentences into her speech which was about how Amy and her friends had a nickname for Roman. As she is building up to the punchline of the story, Justus blurts out more than loud enough for the entire room to hear, "Romancandle!!!" Totally stealing all of the her thunder. Excellent work Justus, I expect nothing less.

I had my camera but didn't take many pictures. Bob, Beth, Bubs and a very somber General.The General a bit more festive and Bob.

I finished up the weekend with a 5K walk with my father for the hearing impaired on the lake front. I knew I needed some exercise so I biked down to the lake front. I have done a number of walks down by the lake front, but in most of those we cut the corners and don't do the whole 5K. Well this one we did nearly the whole 5K. It was much farther than I was hoping. I think my father was also hoping for something a little shorter. 5K is a little more than his 72 year old frame should be taking on. But he finished. The remainder of Sunday we spent on the couch. And looking ahead it doesn't appear that I have many more free weekends. That means that I will have something worthwhile to write about for the next couple months. I will make an effort to get more postable photos.

Thanks to Joe and Dawn for letting me crash at their place Friday night. Thanks to Roman and Amy for a great time Saturday night. I hope you two had fun as well.

Lyric of the Day:
So if you disappear out of view.
You know I will never say goodbye.
And though I try to forget it.
You will make me call your name.
And I will shout it to the blue summer sky.

High Paying and Low Stress Jobs

I was on the internet and came across this article. 5 High Paying Low Stress Jobs. Interesting.

Dean The Machine

This is my friend, Dean. I have known Dean since I was in high school. I used to work construction with him. Every year our boss would throw a summer party at his house. The boss' house was on Lake Beulah. But to get down to the lake there was a series of 120 some steps. As you can probably guess, it was a very steep hill down to the lake and the steps zig zaged the length of the hill. This happened around my sophomore year in high school. In the afternoon the party was down by the lake but as day turned to night everyone headed up to the hill to eat. There was one problem. The beer, which was packed in ice in a garbage can, was down at the lake. Now I am not going to say that the half barrel was completely full, but it was closer to being full than to being empty. It took two or three guys to help Dean get the half barrel, including the garbage can and ice, up onto his shoulder. And then Dean marched up the 120 or so steps to the top of the hill. One of the most impressive feasts of strength I have ever seen. I can still remember the indentations the garbage can made into his shoulder.

Chucker's Questions

My brother, Chucker, had a couple questions for me. Allow me to present and address them.


"Gimme your take why the Brewers pitching sucks?"

The Brewers pitching sucks because of who they have on the roster. Let's start with the starters. Bush, Davis, Gallardo, Wolf and now Narveson. So far Bush is the highlight of the starters. He has only had one bad outing, April 25th against the Cubs, 7 earned runs. In the other 5 starts he has an Earned Run Average of 2.64. Gallardo is solid. Davis has been abysmal. He has only made it to the 6th inning once in 6 starts. And Wolf has been OK. Coffey, Stetter and Villanueva have been pitching great, but every one else in the bull pen stinks. Suppan got over paid. But when you look Major League Baseball contracts, the player often gets paid for that they have done, not what they are going to do. Suppan was the National League Champion Series MVP. In that series he pitched 15 inning and gave up only 5 hits and 1 run. As for what many considered the strength of the Brewers pitching staff, the set up man, Hawkins, and closer, Hoffman. They are old. Hawkins, 38 years old, 15 years of playing and 1209 innings pitched. That is a lot of wear and tear on an arm. Hoffman, 43 years old, 17 years in the league and 1052 inning pitched. Let me know how you feel when you are 43 years old. I am 36 and feel like crap, especially while biking.

"How about the Bucks future?"

The Bucks future. Well I think they are headed in the right direction and have the right coach. It would have been an interesting first round if Bogut was in the line up. I would like to think that he could have spelled that 8 minute scoreless streak in game 6. I think the biggest problem the Bucks have is dealing with Michael Redd. After the 2004-2005 season he signed a 6 year $91 million contact. So there is one more year on his contract. If he is healthy for next year, will there be a spot for him on the team? Over the last 4 years he was averaging 22 attempts per game. Who is he going to be taking shots away from? I like Bogut, Delfino, Ilyasova, Jennings and Salmons. Stackhouse and Thomas and terrific role players. Thomas reminds me some of Scott Williams from the teams in the early 2000s that made deep playoff runs. You could see the team fall off, when they got rid of Williams and signed Anthony Mason. I think next year they will get into the second round of the playoffs.

"The NFL Draft?"

I think that rookies make way too much money, and when the new collective bargaining agreement is finalized after a strike, that will happen, their will be a cap on how much money a rookie can garner. I think Jimmy Clausen will be the best of the quarterbacks taken. Tim Tebow will be a bust and if he makes in the NFL, it won't be as a quarterback. I will call him a slower Cordell Stewart. Tebow was a great college player but there is a huge gap between college football and professional football. I liked what the Packers did. I wanted to see them address the offensive line and the defensive backs. And they picked up two linemen and one safety.

"NHL Playoffs?"

Playoff hockey is great. I watch some of it nearly every night. Although I did want to see Washington faceoff against Pittsburgh. HDTV was made for hockey. That was the big knock with hockey before, that the puck was hard to follow, but not anymore. I just really love picking out one player, usually a defensemen, and watching them skate. They change from skating forward to backwards so fluidly, and they can stop and change directions on a dime. As far as which team am I rooting for, well I would like to see one of the original six win. So that means the Bruins, Red Wings, Blackhawks or Canadiens. I was watching the Canadiens the other night playing at home. They were up one goal with 3 minutes to play, that arena was going crazy. Another thing I really like about playoff hockey is the announcers. The game moves so fast that the announcer can't keep up with the puck and his call of the game builds to a crescendo as the puck goes in.

"Minute to Win It."

I have seen the show. I made the decision a couple years ago that the relay games are over with. Getting the kids organized and describing each game to them wasn't too bad. But when the adults get out they would rather take verbal shots at me (which I deserve just not all at once) than listen to what I am saying. Then they whine because they didn't follow or know the rules. I have already ordered and received this years trophies so the games are already set in stone. But I am thinking about adding a 41 yard dash.

Lyric of The Day:
Now I never mean to do you wrong.
That's what I came here to say.
But if I was wrong then I am sorry.
But don't let it stand in our way.
Cause my head just aches when I think of.
The things I shouldn't have done.
But life is for living we all know.
And I don't want to live it alone.

Longest Day of the Year vs. Hottest Day of the Year

Joe Magnusson queried this question:


Why is it that the longest day of the year isn't the hottest day of the year?

Here is the best answer I could come up with.

The summer solstice isn't the hottest day of the year as it takes a while for the atmosphere to warm up. It's similar to the fact that the hottest time of the day is mid afternoon even though the sun is the highest at mid-day.


Chucker, I will get to you questions.

Lyric of the Day:
Sunshine come on back another day.
I promise you'll be singing.
This whole world she's gonna turn around.
Brand new bells will be ringing.

41 Yard Dashes

I have from time to time organized 41 yard dashes with my nephews and nieces. It is 41 yards, because I made the claim a couple years ago that I could beat Haus in any foot race over 40 yards. I said that because at the time, I still thought Haus was quicker than me. I have been telling Nick and Ethan that I will be able to hold them off for another 4 years. Here was the first race. I had it, me, then Lindsey, Nick and Ethan. Lindsey has been throwing her athletic dominance over her cousins. She is arm wrestling champ, 41 yard dash champ and the reigning two time musical chair winner.

Race #2 was Nick vs Ethan. And it was Nick with a photo finish.

Race #3 I gave the kids a bit of a head start. That one looked like, Me, Nick, Lindsey then Ethan.

Race #4 was Jared vs Julie. And look at Julie taunting at the finish line. If my memory serves, I thought there were a Julie vs. MKA challenge.

Race #5 I gave the kids a bigger head start. It was me, Nick, Lindsey then Ethan and Julie with a DNF.

Race #6 Ethan was persistent and kept racing until this last one where he beat Lindsey.

I think I might have to have a couple 41 yard dashes at the Freeman Party. Here is a little performance tip. Do not eat two italians before running? They will only slow you down.

Hall Of Fame

My aunt clipped this article for me. Paul Krumrich. Hall of Famer. I guess I am OK with all of this list of accomplishments with the exception of the Tridonkey - Triathlon-Health Fitness Founder. Here is a link to the Tridonkeys. I do have to give some credit to Krum. I talked to him shortly before he got inducted to the Hall of Fame, and he thinks it is sort of a joke that he got in. I think he saw this induction as an inconvenience to him. For one, he had to write a speech. Secondly, he had to make the trip down from Minnesota for the induction.

Lyric of the Day:

When I'm sad,

She comes to me,

With a thousand smiles,

She gives to me free.

It's alright she says

It's alright.

Take anything you want from me….anything.

Injuries

I had a posting a couple weeks or months ago after the bruises of Brett Favre from the NFC Championship game showed up on the internet. I said that I was going to post some of my pictures. This one is of my heels. I bought a new pair of soccer cleats, and I didn't get a chance to break them in before the first game. I got blisters so bad on my heels. The skin was gone, you could see the muscle. That really sucked.This was one of my worst ankle sprains. I think I did this one when I was playing basketball with TT out at Stone Bank.Here is the result of a pulled hamstring. That was pretty nasty and took a long time to heal. We were playing football down at Hart Park. It was sort of cold out, I didn't stretch at all. On one of the first plays I picked off a pass and was headed for the endzone when someone stuck a knife right into the back of my leg. At least it felt like someone stabbed me with a knife. I looked around and no one was behind me. I scored the touchdown but was finished for the rest of the day and for that matter the next 4 or 5 months.Here is the result of sliding into third with shorts on playing kickball.My ACL surgery. Being laid up for 6 months, just wasn't as much fun as I thought it was going to be.Lyric of the Day:
She spends her days up in north park.
Watching the people as they pass.
All she wants is just a little piece of this dream, is that too much to ask?
With a safe home, and a warm bed, on a quiet little street.
All she wants is just that something to hold on to no, that's all she needs.

Mother's Day

I would like to wish all of the mothers out there a happy belated Mother's Day. I had a relaxing weekend. There wasn't much to my Friday night. Saturday morning, I went for a ride around Pewaukee Lake, taking the same route that the triathlon will take in July. I managed to take 10 minutes off my time from the first time. But the time I made up wasn't because I am getting in better shape, but because I didn't make 3 wrong turns. It was cold, windy and sucked. I hope it starts getting better, then again I don't think it can get much worse. I will tell you this, it wasn't fun.

Later Saturday morning Rebecca gave me a hair cut. The time is soon coming when I just start shaving my head. It isn't looking good. In fact I have hard time deciding which is worse, my bike riding or my loss of hair.

Saturday afternoon I managed to reserve some time with Krum's dad, JFK, for a quick best of 7 ping pong match. For a retired guy, he is pretty busy. JFK might be Krum's dad, but on the ping pong table, he had me running ragged. By then end of the second game, I was dripping with sweat and was stripped down to shorts and a t-shirt. I got lucky and beat him 4 games to 1. I have to gloat because he would do the same.

Saturday evening, I stopped by Jon and Julie. I supervised as Jon helped Nick and Ethan put together Julie's Mother's Day gift. Here is Ethan's first cut with a chop saw. Note: the safety glasses or lack there of.They made a jewelery holder for Julie. Once all of the cutting was done, Haus let Ethan do the painting and had a beer, as seen in this photo.Sunday I caught a double header of Davies boys' soccer games. Ethan won and Nick lost. Look at the intensity of Ethan.I showed up a little late for Ethan's game. As I was settling into my chair, apparently there was some rough play going on in the game. The parents were yelling, or more accurately, whining to the ref. Then I looked at the ref. He was 14 years old, like he really cares about the outcome of the game. All he is worried about is getting through the game as fast as possible so that he can get paid. Here is a little piece of advice for all of you soccer parents, hockey parents, baseball parents, softball parents, basketball parents, etc., life is not fair, neither are referees, deal with it. No matter what sport it is, if you have a bunch of 10, 11 and 12 year old boys playing a game together, it will eventually get physical. They are boys, that is what they do. And don't try to relive your past athletic glories through your kids. Stop taking your kids athletic endeavors so seriously. Half of these kids that are playing now won't even end up playing varsity in high school. And maybe....maybe 1 or 2 kids that are on that varsity team will play in college. Put it in proper perspective. Parents are the worst thing about youth athletics. I can recall being at this big soccer tournament in Michigan. As I was playing the game, I heard this disturbance on the other side of this chain link fence next to the field. I looked over and here are two dads in a real fist fight, slugging it out over a parking spot. Pickle's game was pretty tough to watch. I think they lost 8-2. But I gave Nick an instructional Sunday afternoon on how to play more physical. You may call it dirty, but it isn't cheating unless you get caught.Mother's Day dinner was at my sister, Deb's. We got in a little football. The girls team won. I threw career touchdown passes 13,408-13,412.Here are half of the grandkids, Ethan, Erin, Jared, Lindsey and Nick. Abby, Josh, Zack, Sarah and Joey weren't able to make it. Too bad.Then Erin wanted her own picture.

Lyric of the Day:

Mother,

Tell your children not to walk my way,

Tell your children not to hear my words,

What they mean, What they say,

Mother.

I Want To Ride My Bicycle, I Want To Ride My Bike

I have been riding bikes for over 30 years now. And up until last night I can only recall having 2 really bad falls.

The first fall came the day that I switched from a small bike with training wheels, to a big bike without training wheels. The fact that I can remember it so well just goes to prove that I am still emotionally scarred from the experience. My brothers wanted to help me learn to ride without training wheels. So they put me on my red schwinn at the top of the driveway where my parents parked their cars. They gave me a good push and away I went. Unfortunately for me, they had me pointed right for a tree. In fact, if you are ever at my parent's house, I will point out which tree it was. I know I was crying after smashing face first into the tree. I am sure there was some blood. Maybe one of my brothers have a clearer memory of the incident and they can lend their two cents.

The second fall was a bit more dramatic. One of my dad's friends, Greg Reiss, was having a pig roast. I believe my dad was already over at Greg's and I decided to bike over to watch them get the pig ready to throw on the spit. I was biking down Highway 83 and I turned and looked over my left shoulder to see if there was a car behind me. But as I had my head turned I wasn't able to see the pothole coming up. The next thing I can recall was laying on the road looking up at the sky with my head laying on this lady's lap. My dad and a couple of my brothers were in the crowd hovering over me. Apparently when I hit that pothole, I flew over the handle bars and landed on my head. An ambulance was called and they loaded me up and took me to the hospital. There wasn't anything severely wrong with me and I was sent home with my dad. I spent the remainder of the day at home in bed and missed the pig roast.

Well last night at 36 years of age, I had another biking accident. I was biking from my house down to 6th Street and back. It is one of my normal training rides that I have been taking to get ready for the triathlon. I was headed down Canal Street and I passed this guy who was also biking. A couple blocks later, I took a look over my shoulder looking for traffic and noticed that this same guy had caught up to me and was drafting right behind me. I don't know why this bothered me, but it did, so I decided to put the hammer down so that he wasn't so close behind me. I approached a set of train tracks which cross the road at an angle that is more parallel to the road that perpendicular. I have some experience with bike accidents in my professional life, so I am cautious about biking hazards. As I approached the tracks I even swerved out towards the center of the road so that I cross the tracks more perpendicularly, but in reality I crossed the tracks at more of a 45 degree angle. I also had my hands and arms in on my profile bars, making me a little less stable than if I had my hands out on the regular handle bars. And you guessed it, my tire still stuck in the train tracks and I went flying. Before you ask me, no I wasn't wearing a helmet. I never do. I was also riding while listening to my MP3 player. The majority of the damage was done to my shoulder, hip and knee.

I am thankful that last night was on the colder side. Here is my warm up jacket. Without it, I really would have done a number on my shoulder.
Here is the raspberry I got on my leg. I will get another picture once it scabs up real nice.Here are the scrapes on my shoulder. I am happy that my shoulder didn't pop out. I am actually surprised that it didn't. Oh and here is something that smarts. Get a little spray on deodorant in those craps, that will wakt you up in the morning.I was really humming along when I fell. I would estimate that I was moving along at close to 20 miles an hour. Bascially I did the equivalent to jumping out of a car moving at that speed. Are you sure you don't want to do the triathlon with me? I was out downtown for work and stopped and took some pictures of the accident site.
"X" marks the spot. That is where I landed.Lyric of the Day:
I want you to know.
That you don't need me anymore.
I want you to know.
You don't need anyone.
Or anything at all

More Breast Cancer Walk Pictures

I took these off of Kim's Facebook page.Here is our group photo. My neck is still sore from having Kyle on my shoulders for the last 1/3 of the walk.Here I am with Elery. Michel thought it would be funny to have Elery pour water on my head. But I think in the end Michel got just as wet as I did.Here is an idea, lets have all of the kids jump on me.

Lyric of the Day:

Lights go out and I can't be saved.

Tides that I tried to swim against.

You've put me down upon my knees.

Oh I beg, I beg and plead.

Best Posting Ever

I really have nothing to talk about. Not too much going on for me. I am still waiting to get my bike back from the bike shop. I dented the rim and so I need a new back tire. That was a week ago Sunday I dropped it off. This is starting to really dig into my training.

Tazers used for morons who run onto the baseball field. I have no problem with that. Although if I was 17 again, I could probably get persuaded to jump on the field.

Any topics out there you want me to discuss? Do you want to hear more about global warming?

Lyric of the day:
I know someday you'll have a beautiful life,
I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky,
But why, why, why can't it be, can't it be mine.

Weekend Update

Well this past weekend was pretty good. That is if you weren't watch the Bucks or the Brewers. The Bucks finally get the attention and support that they deserve (even though I haven't watched much. In fact Friday night was the first game I watched start to end all season). So yes, I am a band wagon jumper. Although I did make an attempt one night to scalp tickets for a game. I didn't get in, but I did put forth some effort. And the Brewers, 4 games against San Diego and all they could manage to put on the board was 1 run in 36 innings. If you go to dictionary.com and type in ineptitude, it is defined as the Milwaukee Brewers. OK, maybe not, but it should.
On to more enlightening topics. How about the weather? Just incredible. If the result of global warming is going to be a mild spring like we have been experiencing, I am all for it. Some quick research, and I found some of the major ways that the human race is contributing to global warming:
1. Driving your car which required the combustion of tremendous amounts of fossil fuels. These fuels have been storing carbon for thousands, possibly millions of years. When your car burns them, that carbon is instantly released as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. I actually don't drive that much. My commute to work is less than 2 miles. The grocery store is 4 blocks away.
2. Buying your suburban home whose lot was cleared of existing trees and plants that were actively storing carbon. When those plants were killed to build your home, they stopped storing carbon and released all the carbon they had accumulated over tens or even hundreds of years. I live in the city and my house is 56 years old. And I have three trees on my lot. Although when I first bought my house is had 6.
3. Eating supermarket meat which requires both the clearing of land for growing animal feed and the use of enormous fossil fuel-powered machines in the production, processing and transportation of this feed (as well as the meat). If you eat beef, lamb or goat meat, you should know that those animals' digestive tracts produce methane, a major greenhouse gas. it may surprise you that animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions. I don't eat supermarket meat. I think it is disgusting. I only eat venison. With the exception of grinding up hamburger everything else is processed with just a knife.
Alright enough from the Earth Day soap box. Back to my weekend. Friday night was the loser double header, watching the Bucks then the Brewers.
Saturday I took part in the Breast Cancer walk at the Lake Front. I think this was my 4th time participating, in support and now in memory of my friend, Linda, who passed away last August. It was by far the best weather we have ever had. We started the walk out in the back of the pack and as we normally do, we also cut a couple corners. In fact we cut more corners than we usually do. It is suppose to be a 5 K walk. I would be surprise if we did more than 2 Ks. Here is some idea of the turn out. We were near the end and the number of walkers stretched from Discovery World past the Art Museum and half way out to the break water.
I really need to start taking more pictures again. I didn't take to many this weekend. Here is Elery, Nate and Michel's son.And these were all of the kids from our group. They wore me out quite a bit. I was happy I got a chance to see Linda's kids, Nathan, Kyle and Jake.

Saturday night was Roman's bachelor party. All I will really say about that, is that I had fun. Sunday I was in full recovery mode from the bachelor party. I got in a very long nap and took care of some things around the house.

Lyric of the day:

When the last bolt of sunshine hits the mountain, and the stars start to splatter in the sky,

When the moon splits the southwest horizon, with the scream of an eagle on the fly.

I will walk along by the black muddy river and listen to the ripples as they moan.

Bridges

I thought I would share some of my work with you. I guess without giving too many details, I was out taking pictures of bridges this past week. I thought I would share a couple with you.
This is down by Valley Park in Pigsville. Nixon Park in HartlandOconomowoc River BridgeWatertown.