Personal news, commentary and ramblings
Distance: 20.3 miles
Riding time: 1:42
Max speed: 27.1 mph
Average speed: 11.8 mph
Temperature: 46-52º
Route:
The last few mornings have been very nippy. I could even see my breath yesterday morning as I rode my bike up the hill to Burnside. Last night I put my winter cap on for the first time as well as my rain coat. This morning was my first ride with my “bike pants” – a pair of very old gray sweats. I keep forgetting to drop my winter gloves into my bike bag. Once I remember that, I’m sure the rain will start and won’t stop until next June.
Over the weekend Tina and I had pizza for the first time in many months. I also had a slice of birthday cake. I’ll see Thursday how that affects my weight loss.
For the last few nights I’ve been waking up to find my mask removed, but I have no memory of removing it. I’ve just been putting it back on and going back to sleep, but last night I couldn’t find the chin restraint anywhere, so I probably opened my mouth quite a bit. Perhaps I am demasking in my sleep.
Bike odometer: 312 miles
Average speed: 10.5 mph
Weight lost: 40 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 8.5
Riding temperature: 49º
Hours billed this week: 14.5 (at the end of today)
Current reading: I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: Daylight Again by Crosby, Stills and Nash, Glimmer by Kim Richey, It’s The Jump Off, Wingspan by Paul McCartney
Recent viewing: Without A Trace, Cold Case, Sportscenter, Heroes, Countdown, South Park
Recent playing: n/a
Recently accomplished: n/a
Imperative To Do: Follow-up with Thomas’ principal, recycle cardboard, finish old blog entries, get Thomas’ computer to boot, rake, clean garage, swap Tivo hard drive, fix laundry room door
Cool Link: The Daily Puppy: Today featuring Halloween costumes
Bike odometer: 301 miles
Average speed: 12.3 mph
Weight lost: 40 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 9
Hours billed this week: 49.5
Current reading: I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: Greendale by Neil Young, Half Nelson by Willie Nelson, Box Set by Buffalo Springfield
Recent viewing: The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live, House of 1000 Corpses, Sportscenter, Storytellers: Dixie Chicks
Recent playing: Zuma, Klax
Recently accomplished: Re-installed iLife ’06, returned cans and bottles, cleaned gutters and downspouts, cleaned off deck and sidewalks, chopped out some more blackberry vines
Imperative To Do: Follow-up with Thomas’ principal, recycle cardboard, finish old blog entries, get Thomas’ computer to boot, rake, clean garage
Cool Link: Noah takes a photo of himself every day for 6 years
Thomas is in 5th grade this year. His teacher is really frustrating Tina and me. Last week, he assigned science homework to be done the next day, but there weren’t enough books for everyone in the class. In fact, there were only 7 books for 20 students. Thomas’ teacher made it the responsibility of the students to get together with other students after school to finish the homework. Luckily, Thomas coordinated with two students who live close to us. Unfortunately, Monday night is Cub Scout night and there was really no way we could get him to the friend’s house and then to Cub Scouts. So Tina retrieved the book on the way to Cub Scouts and copied the pertinent section on the school’s copy machine. Thomas was up 2 hours past his bedtime finishing his homework.
This is not the first time we’ve had problems with this teacher. Earlier in the year he assigned math homework to Thomas but failed to copy the necessary sections of the book. Thomas was the only one in the class who didn’t have the book. We offered to purchase the book for Thomas to use, but he declined and promised he would make sure Thomas had the material he needed in the future.
Bike odometer: 297 miles
Average speed: 11.1 mph
Weight lost: 40 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 8
Hours billed this week: 32:30 (three days)
Current reading: I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: The Rock Report: Decemberists Interview, Box Set by Buffalo Springfield, Back To Mine by Morecheeba, Digital Ash In A Digital Urn by Bright Eyes, Necktie Second by Pete Droge, Half Nelson by Willie Nelson
Recent viewing: Cold Case, World Series, Countdown, Larry King Live, Martha Stewart (Amy Sedaris was on)
Recent playing: Zuma, Halo, Klax
Recently accomplished: Paid bills, returned stuff to hardware store
Imperative To Do: Finish old blog entries, get Thomas’ computer to boot, rake, clean garage, clean gutters and downspouts
Cool Link: Crazy Biker Chick—An open letter to motorists who dislike cyclists.
Bike odometer: 282 miles
Average speed: 10.6 mph
Weight lost: 39 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 9
Current reading: I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: De-Loused In The Comatorium by The Mars Volta, Frances the Mute by The Mars Volta, Rid Of Me by PJ Harvey, Coverville, Fight Songs by Old 97s
Recent viewing: NLCS Game 7, 24, Countdown, Battlestar Galactica, Dr. Who, My Name Is Earl, The Office, South Park, Without A Trace, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, World Series Games 1 & 2
Recent playing: Zuma, Mr. Driller, Klax
Recently accomplished: Restored old hard drive backup to new hard drive, cleaned roof, winterized back yard, turned compost
Imperative To Do: Finish old blog entries, get Thomas’ computer to boot, rake, clean garage, return stuff to hardware store, clean gutters and downspouts
Cool Link: Battle of the Bands
Friday morning I had an appointment with my sleep doctor. The week before I had the data downloaded from my CPAP machine and they forwarded the results to my doctor.
He congratulated on my flawless “compliance” results (machine said I used it every night, but I know I missed one night with a head cold) and explained how I was doing. Even though I’m still experiencing several hypopnea events per hour, they only comprise .3% of my total sleep time, which is very good. He also examined my nose and throat and found that the swelling of my adenoids has decreased. All good news. I see him again in six months.
Saturday afternoon, after the football games and lunch, I settled in for some TV on the couch and soon fell asleep. I slept for several hours and woke in the early evening in time for dinner. At dinner, I noted that my throat felt sore when I swallowed. This was not the first time I had noticed this after napping and realized that it was because of snoring. Snoring makes the adenoids “flap” in the breeze which makes them swell. When they swell, they flap even worse. It really illustrates how important it is for me to use the CPAP every night.
Yesterday I finally had the chance to attend a Saturday flag football double-header starring Thomas and Graham. The action started at around 10:30 in the morning on a perfect football day: brisk and sunny with the wind blowing very hard out of the east (as is normal for our position in The Gorge). So hard, in fact, that people’s chairs were being blown over and kids were chasing their lighter stuff all morning.
Graham’s game was first and resulted in a tie. This was the first time that they didn’t lose, so there was some improvement there. These little kids don’t understand most of the rules of football and do things like run the wrong way sometimes. Still, Graham is understanding the game much better and pulled his first three flags yesterday. He also returned the first kickoff the equivalent of about 60 yards on their shortened field. He really enjoyed himself, too, which is the important thing.
Thomas had practice almost immediately following Graham’s game and then a game after practice. Thomas is the biggest kid on his team and so gets to play on the line, in the middle on both offense and defense. I think he wishes that he could get his hands on the ball every once in awhile, so I tried to emphasize the importance of his position. At one point, the two big kids on the other team (who were both bigger than him) were double-teaming him to keep him from rushing. I explained to him how important this was but I’m not sure he understood. During the latter part of the game, though, he got two flags in a row and then took one to give the other team a big loss a short time later. He was very happy about that. And his team won big with three or four touchdowns to none over a team that had beaten them the previous week.
Here’s some oddities of flag football I found interesting:
Bike odometer: 279 miles
Average speed: 10.5 mph
Weight lost: 39 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 8.5
Current reading: I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: The Ramones, Stadium Arcadium by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Coverville, DrugMusic, Science Friday, Mechanical Animals by Marilyn Manson
Recent viewing: Sportscenter, 24, Countdown, The Colbert Report
Recent playing: Zuma, Mr. Driller
Recently accomplished: Recited various incantations to revive a failed hard drive
Imperative To Do: Finish old blog entries, get Thomas’ computer to boot, get my computer to boot, rake, clean garage, return stuff to hardware store
Cool Link: Camera Obscura: Ken Jennings constructs a mini-album cover recognition quiz. I only got half of them.