I went out on a ride today that was put on by my local REI store. There were 4 people who showed up plus 2 REI folks so we totaled 6 people. We went out and did a 21 mile ride, and it was quite an adventure. This was only my 3rd time on my bike since August. The other folks there, have been riding more than I have. I kept in pace fine on the flats, but fell back on the hills, but always caught back up on the downhills. When I got home, I was worn out. I was supposed to go to an Oscar’s party, but instead I read while laying down, barely moving while watching the show. I have doubts that I won this year, but I think that I got all of the major awards correct.
Monthly Archive for February, 2005
I seem to be doing more and more of these all inclusive updates. I guess that I need to write on this thing more. Ok let’s see, I went to Cininatti last week and it was a good trip. The hotel I was in for the night was nice. Free wifi and bad movies on HBO. I think that the meeting that I went to will be beneficial. Big bummer of the trip was that my rental car didn’t have a cassette player so I couldn’t use my ipod for the drive. G. Todd let me use his FM transmittor, but I couldn’t really find clean stations to use it with. We had a HP meetup this last Sunday at Opry Mills so that we could play some Mini Golf. It was fun. We also hit up Jillians for some games and a machine that I was on, should have given my 75 tickets. It gave me almost 390. I did not complain to the management.
On Tuesday, the weather was nice and sunny and around 55 degrees. Chris and I went out and did some cycling. We started at the Colliseum, and then rode the pedestrian bridge, through downtown, stopped at ’s store, but she wasn’t in that day. We then took the James Roberson bridge, back around the Colliseum, and then rode to Shelby Bottoms. They have built a new little bridge there that runs parallel with the river, so we thought that there might be a bridge further up that would let us ride across to Opry Mills, so we rode along the road which included a god awful hill. In hindsight, we should have skipped that hill. We then finished the Shelby loop and headed back to the car for 18 miles of riding. For the 2nd time out for the year, I was struggling. I should have the legs back fairly soon. I am also planning on starting to do some group rides that various bike shops in town put on each week. It is starting to get warmer, and after Day light Savings starts on April 3, then I hope to get some riding in each evening.
I also decided to do something that I think will be really cool in April. I am going to go to the Tour de Georgia and watch 4 of the 6 days of the event. As of now, Chris and I are thinking of riding at least part of one of the stages the day after it is used for the tour, and then being at the finish of the last day for sure. I think that it will be interesting to see. 5 major international teams will be in the event this year, so it will be a great thing to see. I need to get another Texas flag to have to wave around, because I think my 8 foot flag might be a tad too big.
The month is almost up. I haven’t read a book this month yet, and I was informed that reading 5 books in January are not allowed to count towards February too, so I am in the process of two books right now. I am reading Bobke II by Bob Roll and 23 Days in July by John Wilcockson. I was bit by the cycling fever early this year, so I guess that most of the books that I will be reading in the next couple of months will be cycling related.
My birthday is on March 5, and I don’t have anything planned. I really should go out and raise hell or something like that, but I don’t know. My big birthday present this year is my parents splitting the cost of new brakes for my Jeep with me. Fun huh?
It has been a while since I put anything up here. Let’s see what all has been going on. I was sick for a couple of days which is to be expected at this time of year. I was proactive about it and started taking medicine as soon as I felt something wasn’t right, so the funk never really hit me as hard as it could have. Normally when I get sick it is rare, but it is a 4-5 day ordeal which didn’t really happen this time.
Some work stuff that I didn’t like, but that is all that I will say about that.
The other thing I guess was Singles Awareness Day. This year some of the Nashville HP folks went out and hit the bowling alley. We figured out how to turn on the bumpers and the game got fun from there on. We were all witness to one of the most amazing bowling shots ever. Chris threw a 9 pound ball as hard as he could and it went straight into the gutter, but then jumped out of the gutter at the end of the lane and hit the head pin, and only left 1 pin standing. It was truly amazing, and we wish that we had it on film. We would have one America’s Funniest Home Videos. The 2nd game that we played was everyone had the bumpers up and the lowest score won, and I am glad to say that I pulled it off with a 61 over 10 frames. I would have done better if I had a 6 pound ball, but I think that they workers wouldn’t have given me a 6 pound ball if I would have asked. It was a good time. I think that we might be hitting up the putt putt course this Sunday for our regular meeting, and I am sure that will be an adventure if our style of bowling was any indication.
The weather yesterday was nice. I actually went out and went cycling for the first time in forever. My legs didn’t really bother me, but it was obvious that I haven’t done much exercise in a while. Hopefully it will get warm soon, so that I can get back into a regular riding schedule.
In other news, I am going to Cincinnati on Friday for some sort of meeting. I will find out when I get to work if I am driving up there tomorrow night, or flying up on Friday morning. I am kind of non partial either way, but it will be kind of nice to know considering it is Wednesday.
I still need to read a book for this month, so bug me until I do it. Thanks.
Yesterday I went out to the shooting range with Shane, Todd, Danielle, and Todd’s coworker Brian. It was just a good day of shooting. We didn’t take any cameras with us this time, just went out and shot at paper…and golf balls. Golf balls are great targets. Brian shot one with his new .45 and it seemed to fly forever over the back of the range. They found the ball and Brian opened it up when he got home and the bullet was inside the middle of the golf ball and it had not mushroomed at all. The bullet was as if it had not ever been fired from a gun. I haven’t seen it, but it sounds pretty cool. Todd enjoyed the shooting, since today he went out and bought a .45 of his own. It is a nice gun, a Springfield Arms 1911 A1. I hope that we go shooting soon, so that I can give it a go.
I found this on Sinclair’s LJ. It is great
This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl’s every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.
This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they’re at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don’t end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.
This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldn’t worry about it. This is for that time she interrupted the best killing spree you’d ever orchestrated in GTA3 to rant about a rumor that romantically linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for that time she didn’t have a date, so after numerous vows that there was nothing “serious†between the two of you, she dragged you to a party where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to everyone: “oh, but we’re just friends!†And even though you were invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways. Because you’re nice like that.
The nice guys don’t often get credit where credit is due. And perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don’t seem to get laid as often as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I can’t. From what I have observed on campus and what I have learned from talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical, manipulative bitches. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as “oh, he’s too nice to date†or “he would be a good boyfriend but he’s not for me†or “he already puts up with so much from me, I couldn’t possibly ask him out!†or the most frustrating of all: “no, it would ruin our friendship.†Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I can’t figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (I’m going to sleep with this complete ass now!). But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesn’t last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.
So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know you’re sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, inane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you. You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming.
Fu-zu Jen, SEAS/WH, 2003
This rant was written for the
Wharton Undergraduate Journal
