New Running Shoes after 650 miles

After a healthy 8 hours of sleep I woke Tuesday feeling refreshed and ready to get after it. The coffee had just started to brew as I made my way to the kitchen. In a hurry, I whipped out sit-ups and then 40 curls. I had to wait a few minutes for the coffee to finish. Played on the computer until 605am. Felt good to be ahead of the game. I haven't been able to say that too much since returning from vacation.

I did a good meditation and stretch routine. Both felt great. I was ready for my run even before 630am. Can't remember the last time that happened. Immediately out the door, I noticed a big difference in the sun's position, not quite up over the horizon at that hour now. It won't be too long now before the early run is back in darkness. There was a slight chill in the morning air. That hasn't been the case too often at all this summer.

I ran the full 4.1 miles with any trouble though my hammies were achy again, especially during the first mile or so. I finished my run strong and was back inside the house near 710am. Before tending to my breakfast and lunch, I delivered Mindy a cup of coffee. I was sure she asked me to bring it early. She was taking her mom to a doctor's appointment that morning while my dad came by to keep an eye on the kids.

I fried three eggs, two for me and one for Eiknarf, though she wasn't up to enjoy them until I was about to head up for a shower. I went ahead and walked her before a shower. Mindy was still sleeping when I headed up for my shower but she was up before I headed back downstairs.

We hung out for a little while before I left for work. By then the cool morning sunshine was gone. It was very warm and muggy in the early sunshine. I made sure to take my Finishline coupon with me to work. I thought I might pay a visit their at lunch time. If nothing else, I could try on a few different pairs and buy online if they didn't have the color I wanted. Ah, the beauty of the internet. I also took my new AMEX card so I could book my flight to Chicago for next week. I left for the office around 825am.

It felt good to not feel under the gun right out of the shoot at work. That's a feeling I haven't experienced since before vacation. For the past two weeks it's been one deadline after another. The reprieve would be short lived. It was already month end already. Yikes! Where did July go?

I was able to book my flight as well as taking care of a few other minor tasks that had to be placed on the back burner while I played catch-up. My boss popped in around 11am. We chatted only briefly, me sharing that I booked my Chicago flight and that I was in the office until almost 9pm Friday night for my laptop issue.

I left for lunch around 130pm, driving to Tuttle mall. I parked behind Macy's and cut through their lower level and into the mall to Finishline. I looked at all the running shoes, most I'd already viewed online. None looked that pleasing to my eye. On the other hand, several women's designs look awesome. Perhaps I'll buy a pair of women's running shoes next time.

I ended up trying on a pair of Nike and then a pair of Asics. I've been running happily in Asics for the past few years now. They fit much better than Nikes, not as narrow. As in the past, the Nikes were too restrictive. The Asics I tried on felt good but they were a bit pricier than I was really wanting. They were $140, though I did have a $20-off coupon, but still. The sales guy's manager came by and tried recommending a few other brands of running shoes for me to try. I was turned off by his pretended expertise. I had them check the Finishline webpage to make sure the shoes I liked weren't marked lower on there. I did so because I noticed at least one other pair where I know that was true. I pointed them out. He checked, no problem. They weren't on sale. I needed new shoes, having gone a week shy of 6 months in my most recent pair. I went ahead and got the ones I tried on. They're royal blue and black, a color combo I wasn't too wild about, but they felt good, which is far more important when you run as much as me.

After making my shoe purchase I browsed a few different departments at Macy's. I bought nothing else, however. I headed back to the office after being out for about an hour. Felt good to take an hour for myself. I spent the afternoon working on a couple escalations as well as tying up a few dangling loose ends. I left the office near 510pm feeling good about all I had accomplished that day.

As usual, I phoned Mindy on the way home. Said she boiled down the rotisserie chickens from dinner the night before and made chicken and noodles. Not exactly a summer kind of meal but it's still one of my faves. Once again, Jacob was off to soccer practice and Bella with Jimaken at his mother's. Mindy and I decided not to go anywhere this date night. Instead, we simply enjoyed chicken and noodles at home. Good thing too. Mindy again wasn't feeling too well and begged off to our bedroom around 7pm, or soon after we finished dinner and had spent a few minutes together on the deck. I, on the other hand, headed off to water all the flowers front and back. The lawn's starting to dry out in spots here and there again. We really could use a good soaking rain. Doesn't look like we're going to get it anytime soon, however.

Finished the watering then headed inside to do a playing on the computer. I spent at least an hour writing in my blog, which is way behind. At the time I had written up through the prior Thursday, but just haven't posted anything for almost two weeks. But I'll likely get caught up in the coming days.

The kids were home near 8pm. Bella was most concerned about her mother's whereabouts. I shared that she was already in bed, but likely watching Olympic coverage. Both kids headed up to see her. I was right. She wasn't asleep. In fact, she came down and made Jacob more dinner, even though he ate before soccer practice. She and the kids were right back upstairs after their brief time in the kitchen. That afforded me more time to write in my blog without distraction.

Once again I started to get really sleepy around 930pm, and rather than fight it I secured the home and headed up to bed.

Bella's Rotisserie Chicken

I wasn't up until 540am and then not downstairs until almost 545am. Not to worry. I prepped coffee the night before, so I felt like I was on track even before engaging in calisthenics. Sit-ups and push-ups went fairly easily. It didn't hurt that I was in a good frame of mind. I headed to the PC where I enjoyed a cup while playing on the internet.

I was on the computer until almost 625am. Checked the weather. It was 68 degrees and humid. Not bad. Expecting a high near 90 with a chance of rain. I did a thorough meditation and stretch, and had both completed by 640am. I was dressed and ready to head off on my run by 650am. Felt good heading out the door.

I ran the full 4 miles and felt good doing so. My hamstrings, especially my left felt sore at the outset but loosened by the end. I am sure they were pulled a bit with the beach running now almost a month ago. Back at home by 715am, I quickly began cooking eggs and prepping my lunch. I'm just now getting into a rhythm after 7 or 8 weeks into summer break. Mindy will be taking over again soon.

Without the baby gate in place, Eiknarf has free access to come downstairs whenever she wakes and feels so inclined. She greeted me just before I was ready to head up for a shower. I went ahead and walked and fed her.

I headed upstairs to shower around 750am. It didn't take me long tot ready. Mindy joined me downstairs for coffee just before I left. Mindy and the kids didn't have a lot planned for the day, though she talked about taking Jacob to get the stuff he'll need for music class. He'll be learning the saxophone this year. Oh boy! Before heading off to work I suggested we have leftovers for dinner. There was a lot of stuff in the fridge.

Arrived at the office near 840am and quickly got myself situated. I took care of a few more loose ends with configuring my laptop after Friday's reimaging. I walked down to talk to an engineer that used to report to me to get his advice on what terminal emulation app I should be using now that my old program was deleted. He hooked me up. Great!

I discovered that most of my data was duplicated on my hard drive meaning I was using almost my entire hard drive. I started to delete most of the duplicated files after confirming I had a working copy elsewhere. Then, around 10am the guy that helped me Friday night called to make sure everything was working well. I thanked him for the exemplary effort.

I spend a great deal of the work day putting the finishing touches on my newest quarterly presentation that I'll ultimately be flying to Chicago to present late next week. I still need to book that airline ticket, by the way. I didn't bother taking a formal lunch break. Instead, I barreled on through my day trying to get as caught up. By the work day's end I was caught up, at least with monthly/quarterly reports. It's been a rough couple weeks after vacation getting on track. Of course it didn't help that I had two new customer's that I had to develop reports for. Should go smoother next cycle.

I called Mindy in route to home. She shared a little about her day, including that she picked up Jacob's saxophone stuff. I clarified how he needs to care for my precious sax and then that it could probably use a tune-up. Said we were having rotisserie chicken for dinner - Bella's recommendation. They picked them up at the grocery earlier that day. It was just Mindy, Bella and I for dinner. Jacob was off to soccer practice. Mindy shared that she wasn't feeling well. We enjoyed the two rotisserie chickens - one savory the other garlic. We stowed the leftovers with Mindy intending to boil them down on Tuesday for chicken and noodles. After clean-up I was crazy sleepy. Good thing that Mindy agreed to run Bella to gymnastics. I agreed to pick-up Bella after gymnastics sparing Mindy the task.

I finally got a hold of Ashley around 730pm and learned that Olivia woke Monday morning feeling a lot better. That was good to hear. I did some reading from the family room chair. Mindy headed up to bed even before I left to pick-up Bella. I noticed the sun in a noticeably lower position against the western horizon as compared to the last time I picked Bella up from gymnastics. Days are shrinking!

Back at the house I did a little internet surfing but not much else. Watched some Olympic coverage too. Headed to bed around 930pm after starting to dose from the family room. I needed a good night of sleep. Bella was still up watching TV from the sofa. I asked that she turn off the house before heading to bed. Said she would. I was surprised to find Jacob in my spot in the bed snuggled up next to his momma. That's a rare sight these days. He was quick to exit once I hit the bed. Good night moon!

Thule Modified

I was up near 8am, but easily could’ve slept longer. I started coffee then played on the internet until it was ready. Once it was I did some more PC time but then did a walkabout the yard. The lawn has bounced back surprisingly well after Wednesday and Thursday’s strong storms. Looks lush again. That pleased me much.
I headed out for a run a little after 9am. It was a good run, only three miles. My plan for the day was to cut the lawn and possibly even tinker with the Thule in an effort to get the mounting brackets moved to where the Pilot’s rear hatch will open fully without bumping up against the unit.

Mindy had bacon baking in the oven when I got back from my run. The kids were still asleep. I headed out to start yard work near 1030am. I didn’t want to wait too long as it was expected to get pretty warm again as the day wore on. ON my way out through the garage I noticed that dead animal smell again. I checked the tray of mouse pellets I put near the dog food storage container. It was about 3/4s gone.

I thought to look in my rag box where I often find mouse turds. Sure enough, down amongst the rags was a rotting mouse carcass. Yuck! It stunk to high heaven! I tossed it out amongst the utility boxes. Hard to believe one tiny rotting rodent could stink up the garage that bad.

I cut the front and the hilly, uneven parts of the back with the push mower and its new rear wheels. What a difference. It actually goes straight. I took a couple water breaks and in doing so popped inside and woofed down a slice or two of bacon as well. Yum!

While I worked outside, Mindy did more work in the basement. I went ahead and finished mowing the yard with the tractor. Before whacking, edging, and blowing I took a break from lawn mowing and made protective rings out of chicken wire for the pepper plants that were eaten to a stub presumably by rabbits earlier in the summer. They’re starting to make a comeback. I wanted to try and protect them from further damage. That took about 15 minutes. Mindy liked the idea and commented as much.

I went ahead and finished the lawn work. Looked great when I finished. I took another brief break but then pulled the Thule from the garage and placed it atop the Pilot mounting only by the back cross bars. I then push it forward to where the rear hatch would open fully without smacking into it. As I expected, the Thule would need to be modified to fit the front crossbar of the Pilot. I’d have to move the bracket forward by about six inches. I put chalk marks on the side of the Thule where the bracket would have to slide to fit. I then removed it from the Pilot and opened it up to see how much effort would be involved, or if I even wanted to do it.

The biggest dilemma wasn’t whether I could do it or not, but rather whether the shortened distance between the cross arms would hold the long Thule securely. Modified, about 3’ would hang over beyond the front most bracket. In the end, I figured the worst possible outcome would be having to buy a new – different Thule model. Decided to give it a go.

On closer inspection, the sliding bracket was riveted to the unit’s body, meaning I’d have to drill out the rivets, cut new sliding grooves into the units body, and then drill new mounting holes and attach the old bracket with nuts, washers, and bolts. I’d have to run to Home Depot to get what I needed. I took the Accord. I planned to buy lock washers and those nylon lock nuts to ensure it doesn’t vibrate loose.

I settled on the necessary hardware spending only $6 for everything I would need. I was excited to get home and give it a go. The rivets drilled out much easier than I expected. I used my new cordless Father’s Day drill. Awesome – TY, Mindy! I then used the oscillating tool from dad to cut/extend the track about six inches on each side. That worked extremely well. That oscillating tool is bad ass!

I got the first side mounted in no more than 15 minutes. However, I changed the hardware configuration slightly, deciding to use a flat washer on each side of the bolt along with one lock washer and lock nut. That would give more surface for the nut to mount against. That also meant I would be short by 4 flat washers.

Just as I was about to mount the other side Darwin pulled up. He knew what I was doing immediately. In fact, he’s the one that suggested I try modifying the Thule last winter when he saw that it slammed against our rear hatch every time we opened it. Said he had to modify his own, though its design was a bit different than ours. He watched as I put the finishing touches on the Thule modification.

He bolted for home just before I was ready to put it to the test. I was hopeful that it would fit up nicely, not bump the hatch, and more importantly, stay safely put while driving. It worked well, just as I hoped it would. I didn’t take the Pilot on a test drive though, but would later.

I was very happy to have that taken care of. That’ll make winter ski trips and summer vacations that much more pleasurable. The afternoon was waning. I was beat and sore from a day of yard work. I watered the flowers then headed in for a shower. We were expecting dad for dinner. Mindy was grilling inferno chicken.

Dad showed up sometime around 5-530pm. By then, I was fresh out of the shower and tinkering inside. Mindy was already out at the grill working with the chicken. In addition to the chicken, Mindy grilled zucchini sliced into ½” thick slices and basted in an olive oil, garlic salt concoction. Both the chicken and the zucchini was delicious. For dessert, Mindy served the leftover birthday brownies. Dad commented that the brownies might be the best ever. They were very fudgy-gooey!

We hung out on the deck after dinner for a while chatting. We got to talking about the my boat and how sluggish it seems pulling a skier out of the water these days. Talked about changing the prop size for more power out of the hole. But Dad also suggested trying a Stingray (whale tail) adapter. Said he had two, and that I could try his older one if I wanted.

It must’ve been around 730pm when he left for home. At the same time, I decided to take the Pilot on a test drive with the Thule modification on top. I wanted to see if it would bounce now that more of the front hung out over the front bracket. Seemed to do just fine. My assumption is that it would be more likely to bounce when empty – worst case. I felt good about the performance.

Met Mindy out back again on the deck where we spent the rest of the evening. I email called my mom after getting an email sharing that she might come up next weekend. Dad called too to let me know he found the Stingray attachment and was willing to bring it by the house. Said he found the dog nail trimmers too. Said he’d bring both by. I was talking with mom when he returned. He didn’t’ stay too long, just long enough to drop the two items.Mindy tried trimming Eiknarf’s nails almost immediately. She had me holding her. She went berserk, and honestly, I’m surprised she didn’t try to bite us. She would have nothing to do with those dang trimmers. I think Mindy got two of her front claws trimmed before giving up for the night. Inside, we watched more delayed Olympic coverage. Watched swimming and women’s gymnastics. The USA women are amazing! Headed to bed just before 10pm though we let the Olympics whirl from the bedroom TV.

Boating on Lake Choctaw

I was up around 730am to sunny skies and cooler temps. It was only in the 60s. The kids were awake and quickly at my side downstairs as I prepped a new pot of coffee. I wasn’t thrilled about not having some alone time but half expected the wee ones to be up. They pestered me incessantly all the while the coffee brewed, sharing that they wanted some too.

When it finally finished brewing I poured the three of them (Landon, Rocky, Olivia) a cup with mostly chocolate milk, a little coffee, heavy on the flavored creamer, whipped cream, caramel topping and cinnamon. They dug it.
I poked around on my home PC and then spent a little time further tweaking my work laptop after Friday’s reimaging. The plan was to head out to Lake Choctaw around noon. However, before any of that I needed to run. Mindy wasn’t up until about 900am. Once she was up I headed off on my run. The kids insisted on joining me. No!
As soon as I was back, Mindy ran to Wal-Mart to get some of their yummy pre-made subs to take with us. She was also working on Lindsey’s laundry since she had to work all day. Mindy was gone for a while. Turned out, she had to visit two Wal-Marts, the one in Hilliard then the one near Tuttle. They didn’t have any subs made in Hilliard.
We were ready to head off to Lake Choctaw near 1145am. All seven of us loaded into the Pilot and off we went. It took just a couple minutes longer than Mindy said – about 25 in total, but it’s about as easy of a drive as you’ll find. It’s straight out I-70 to exit 56 then less than a mile from there.

Doug, Tara, their niece Hannah, and son Kevin were watching the DVR’d Olympic games opening ceremonies when we arrived. This was my first visit to their house, at least while they were there. We actually stopped by on our way back from Yellow Springs a couple years ago just after they closed on the deal. They weren’t home. We peaked in the windows and visited the beach.

Doug/Tara gave me a mini tour then we started prepping for a day boating and beaching. The women and kids loaded in the Pilot and headed to the beach. I went with Doug to get boat gas and then to the dock to get their boat. Mindy gave him $60 for gas.

There was a bike race going on and the field was using the gas station as a stopover point. There must’ve been at least 200 bikers there. At the private boat dock, Doug discovered that their boat battery was dead. Said someone left the blower on. We opted to remove the battery from the minivan temporarily then jump start the boat. That worked well. We filled the boat with gas using 3 of the 4 five gallon containers we bought at the neighborhood gas station.
Sandwiched in between the gas station and the dock was a quick run back to the house to get some hand tools. After 45-60 minutes we were finally ready to set sail. Their boat in a Ski Master ski boat. They have one of those enormous aluminum board and ski racks that straddles the entire boat. They made their own racks for each side using 3” PVC. Tara shared that they saved about $500 by making them. Hey, if it works.

It was just Doug and I in the boat. All the others were at the beach awaiting our arrival. It’s just up and around the corner from their private dock. Doug was a little peeved that Tara didn’t bring the bungi cords to hold the skis and wake boards in the makeshift racks. Said they didn’t’ need them. Doug felt otherwise and was sure they’d fall off in the water. He planned to make a point to gun it as we passed the beach to see if they’d fall off right in front of Tara, Mindy & the kids. Yep!

I carefully pulled the gear from the water and stashed them along the very limited seating. In fact, I was more than a little surprised at how uncomfortable the seating is in one of those ski boats. Our boat, on the other hand could seat 9 passengers without a problem. Not that I’d ever want that many aboard though.

The thing about the inboard motor is that it takes up the entire center of the boat. The only comfortable seat is the driver’s seat. No open bow either. We docked at the courtesy beach docks then all the little kids loaded on to ski with Mindy and Tara at the helm. Doug headed back to the house to get a shower and meet his parents. I stayed on the beach with all of our stuff.

Bella skied first, then Mindy. Olivia was going to ski but bagged it. It was uncharacteristically choppy, at least for Lake Choctaw. There was a slight breeze blowing and a number of weekend boaters out on the water. Lake Choctaw isn’t that big or deep therefore it doesn’t take too many boats at all to stir up a good chop. After the wee ones had their shot, Jacob and Rocky headed out. I stayed back again. I was actually sleepy and enjoyed a couple small naps. Rocky opted not to ski. Jacob, on the other hand, wanted to wake board and got up easily. Said it feels natural – a lot like snow boarding.

About the time that Doug came back to the beach with his parents in tow, Tara and Mindy were back from boating too. Doug’s parents hung out for about an hour. They seemed real nice – friendly. Olivia insisted that she wanted to give skiing a try, so against my preference, I headed out with Doug, Olivia, Hannah, and Landon. Olivia chickened out again after watching Hannah do it. By the way, Hannah was willing to be in the water with Olivia until she got up. I thought about giving the wake board or slalom skiing, but didn’t. I’ve never had the opportunity to ski behind a real ski boat. It pops one out of the water a lot faster than our boat. Anyway, Doug seemed anxious to get the boat back to the dock and frankly, I didn’t want to injure myself either.

Olivia complained of not feeling well when we got back to the beach. All the other kids played in the water, including Landon who surprised me. He spent almost the entire afternoon playing in the lake. The afternoon went fast. It was 6pm in a hurry, the time we originally planned to be home. Mindy and Tara talked about going back out with the boat again, but I suggested we head home. Doug was leaving for poker night with his peeps anyway. We helped pack everything up and then unload everything back at Tara and Doug’s place. We said goodbye to Hannah who shared that she was heading back to DC for the school year Wednesday, August 1.

It was near 630pm when we hit the road for home. The kids tormented Olivia on the drive home. She was tired and grouchy. Oh boy! The plan was to celebrate Rocky’s birthday as soon as we were home and the Lindsey and Ashley showed up. They were there minutes after we arrived home. Mindy quickly dispatched Bella with the pug. Originally, we were going to enjoy pizza before the b-day brownies, but changed the menu to subs since we had so many. Everybody enjoyed them. There were at least three varieties: Italian, turkey, New York deli, and ham and cheese. I washed down my sub with a Bodhi. 

We lit candles on the stack of already sliced brownies. Rocky enjoyed blowing them out. The brownies were uncommonly delicious – fudge-like. Olivia complained of not feeling well. Mindy got the thermometer out and checked her temp. Yep, she had a fever of 102. The girls and kids hung out until about 815pm when they all went home. That left just the four of us in the silence. Ahhhhhh!

Afterwards I poured another beer and tuned into the Olympics catching some swimming. Mindy headed to bed early. I stayed up on the sofa enjoying three beers in total across the entire evening.

A Friday Spent Celebrating Rocky

I was up at 540am after a fairly decent night of sleep. I was still a little groggy and certainly could've stood for another hour or so of quality sleep. However, that wasn't in the cards. I completed sit-ups but then decided to ski push-ups to give my shoulders and neck an extra day of rest - three in total. I hung out on my PC for about 20 minutes or until 615am when I broke away to meditate and stretch.

Both of those went well. I was dressed and out the door for my run by 640am. It was cooler than Thursday, only 74 degrees but the humidity was around 95%. it was steamy. There were still plenty of clouds around but they were expected to burn off in a hurry giving way to a nice Friday and weekend. I ran the full 4.1 miles. It was trash day too. Our can was emptied shortly before I headed out the door for my run.

The run went really well, but then again most Friday runs do. I was much looking forward to the weekend after a tough/busy work week. I wasn't looking forward to the reimaging of my laptop which was slated to begin at 9am. Ahead of a shower I cooked an omelet and prepped my lunch. I woke Mindy with coffee after walking the pug. She and the kids had designs on heading out to Tara's again to boat and water ski. We hung on the deck for a while before I left for work. We discussed the logistics associated with having the grand kids overnight and then boating Saturday at Alum Creek. I left for work near 830am.

I got settled in at the office around 850am and was expecting the PC reimaging guy to call me promptly at 9am. But 9am came and went without a call. I kept working taking advantage of the time I had to knock out several small tasks. The call came around 930am to start the reimage. I asked a number of questions about the process, including how long it might take and then the risk of losing important files. He guessed it would take 2-3 hours. Said I had about 20 minutes before it would begin. I decided to back-up a few more files and critical apps.

The reimaging wasn't going too well. Lucky for me I have a desktop PC in my office too. At least I could access email via the web and take care of a few issues that were dumped on my lap. I talked to the reimage guy two or three times before noon. He told me not to touch the machine. He also assured me that he would call when it was done and make sure that all my apps and files were there and working. I was counting on that.

Long story short, 5pm came quickly and my laptop still wasn't done. And when I tried reaching my guy he didn't answer his phone. I wasn't pleased to say the least. Not only was my Friday largely unproductive, but it was looking like the issue might now roll into Monday. Damn it!

My boss came by around 530p to see if I was up and running. Hell no! He gave me the names and numbers to the managers over the reimaging team. Cool. I doubted they'd answer on a Friday evening but they did. I explained my dilemma and he assured me that he would get me up and running before hanging up. He was most pleasant and calming. He insisted that his guy simply leaving me hang was not at all like him. Asked if perhaps he left me a VM. Nope. No VMs.

As promised, he worked with me to get my laptop up and running and then made sure I had all my apps and files. At one point he shared that it would take quite a while and that we could leave it go over the weekend and fix any last minutes issues Monday AM. I didn't want to risk starting the week behind the eight ball. He understood and agreed to stay on the job until it was completed. Little did I know that would turn into 845pm. Yikes! I felt good that we got it almost completely back to normal aside from a couple apps and a few files I needed to redirect.

I left for home just before 9pm. By then Mindy already had three of the grandkids over. She sent a text sharing that I might want to consider a stop at Barley's to decompress since they were extra wild. She was right. They were wound up even by the time I got home, but not in a bad way. Rocky pleaded to open his birthday gifts Mindy had wrapped in a giant gift bag. She made the rounds earlier in the afternoon picking up the things we agreed on. Thank you Princess!

I was extra hungry and enjoyed a leftover burrito. I poured a Bodhi pretty quick too. Yum-yum! We planned on formally celebrating Rocky's b-day not only with the kids but with Lindsey and Ashley on Saturday evening after getting home from boating. Even still, we decided to let Rocky open his b-day gifts that night. He was on pins and needles. Through the early chaos, Mindy suggested that we head out to Lake Choctaw and boat with Tara and Doug instead of taking our boat to Alum Creek. The kids - Jacob & Bella - seconded that notion. I acquiesced. Mindy called Tara to make arrangements. Mindy also shared that Jacob got up on their wake board earlier that day for the first time. Water was said to be like glass.

He seemed genuinely happy with his new Razor scooter complete with a sparker attachment. We also got him some giant sparklers, snaps, swimming googles and diving rings. Thankfully, all the kids settled down after Rocky opened his presents. Rocky & Jacob headed to his room to watch a movie while Landon and Olivia sat on the couch watching TV with Bella. Once they started to nod off I tuned to the Summer games opening ceremonies. I only caught bits and pieces as I was fine tuning my laptop in the living room, still trying to find/attach my Outloook pst. files.

Mindy headed to bed early, even before 10pm. I stayed up long enough to see more of the tape delayed opening ceremonies, including a performance by Paul McCartney and then some really cool fireworks along with some Pink Floyd tune from Dark Side of the Moon. Awesome! I enjoyed a second beer before finally heading to bed near 11pm.

Maeder-Quint & CBC

I'd be starting my 2nd work day in a row in New Albany doing my part of our quarterly presentation. To that end I was up near 545am and fairly quickly engaged in calisthenics. I wasn't in any rush. I didn't need to be in New Albany until 945am for our 10am presentation.

It was another extremely warm start to the day. It was 81 degrees at 6am with 75% humidity. Strong storms were a possibility for later in the day. I hoped so. We needed another bought of rain. I did my usual routine before heading out the door for a run around 655am. The run went well.

After my run and ahead of a shower I cooked my breakfast, prepped my lunch, and took care of the pug. Was done with all that by 750am and off to the shower. I dressed nicely in all black, attire well suited for the hot temps but also a formal presentation.

Spent a few minutes with Mindy enjoying a 2nd cup of coffee before leaving for work. Arrived in New Albany just after 930am. The presentation was in the nicer, more modern building. I had to park several hundred yards out from the entrance. It's a long haul! I was walking just ahead of one of their vice presidents when I spotted a $1 bill lying on the ground. Of course I picked it up and quickly turned to the VP and said this was going to be a good day. He concurred.

I was the first one to the cushy new conference room complete with state-of-the-art conferencing gear. Sweet! I checked email via blackberry while awaiting the others. Soon the rest of the troops arrived, my coworkers as well as several customer team members. My boss showed up and shared that our VP wasn't able to make it. That took a small load off my shoulders.

I had to wait as my piece was third. Given my druthers, I'd go first every time. I sit there and get nervous. Not sure why, but this time I didn't get as nervous as usual. The presentation wrapped up after about 50 minutes. Went well. Afterwards, I went to visit a team I often work with but rarely see. We had a healthy technical discussion. I left the customer's location around 1130am, but instead of heading directly to the office I made a stop at the Easton Best Buy where I picked up a 16gig USB flash drive so I could back all my critical files on my work laptop ahead of Friday's reimaging. If I lost my important files I might as well quit! Memory's cheap these days. Only $15 for the 16gig USB stick.

Arrived at my regular office just after 12noon. Got busy right away on yet another quarterly presentation, the same one I'd been working on all week. Getting close to the end product. More importantly, the data's now in a format that I am really comfortable with. And if I am going to be the one presenting, then I've got to be comfortable with it.

The afternoon flew by. Soon it was time to head for home. Just before leaving the office I checked VM on my personal cell phone. Had a message from John Vidosh, a former Time Warner cohort, sharing that Mike Knies, another Time Warner cohort, passed away. According to the VM, calling hours were that evening 6-8pm at Maeder- Quint in German Village. I planned to go.

This was the first day Mindy could have any alcohol since July 13th due to taking an antibiotic for her stomach issues. She'd been looking forward to dinner at CBC for more than a week. I called her on my way home. Initially we discussed the strong storms that blew through mid afternoon. Said it rained like hell and the sky turned dark as night. She asked if we were still a go for CBC. Yes, but with a wrinkle. I shared the news about Mike K. and my intentions. She offered that we all would go - the entire family - on our way to dinner. It's not even a mile from CBC. Great!

The kids weren't super excited about going to calling hours but then again I didn't expect them to be. They didn't put up a fuss though. Mindy had them showered and ready to go just after 6pm. We headed out the door at 610pm arriving at Maeder-Quint on S. High St near 630pm. I hadn't seen Mike but once or twice in the last 15 years or so.

He was a super nice guy and a person that almost everybody liked. At the time, I didn't care much for his leadership style, but as I've aged I've come to appreciate his style more and more. Never took work too serious. I talked to his son Joe and introduced Mindy and the kids. I was floored at how big Joe's gotten. I was even more floored when he shared that he had an 18 year old son. Holy smoke! He couldn't be but 38 years old. Last time I saw Joe he was playing football for Franklin Heights. Mike, his father, passed away from esophageal cancer. He smoked a pipe for the 15 years I knew him. I spotted Mikes wife while chatting with Joe. Joe called got her attention. I'd met her only a few times, Xmas parties and such, but I knew it was her. We chatted briefly, me sharing my sorrow for her loss. Both she and Joe shared that it was almost a relief after Mike's long battle. I wasn't even aware that he was sick. It must've been grueling for the family.

We didn't stay too long. Didn't see any other Time Warner cohorts, though expect that they showed up earlier or planned to come a little later. We were on our way to CBC after 15 short minutes. Mindy commandeered us a table on the patio where Kevin could be our server. However, we ordered drinks from Vince who was working behind the bar. He made Mindy some concoction similar to the non-alcohol version he made for her last Saturday. This one, however, was the real deal. I ordered a Bodhi, but planned only to have one. Both kids had Dr Pepper.

For dinner, Mindy ordered the salmon, me plain old chicken wings, Jacob the Cuban burrito, and Bella ordered fried chicken and macaroni. We ordered bread and artichoke dip as an appetizer. Everything was just OK. No their best but still good. Mindy opted for a second drink but this time a Bodhi. We were there just over an hour.

I paid the bill and drove us home. After arriving home we ventured out on the deck for a while. It was nice to see the yard reacting so well to the heavy rains from earlier in the day. We watched a little TV but headed to bed fairly early or just before 10pm.

Bumping into MA Imber

I overslept by 30 minutes and nearly slept even longer. I glanced at the clock and miscalculated the time, thinking at first that I had another 30 minutes ot sleep. Something told me it shouldn't be that light to be 5am. Bam! But that's because it was 6am!

I completed calisthenics, enjoyed abbreviated internet time, then completed a decent meditation and stretch. It was just after 7am when I finally left for my run. To get back a little time I trimmed my run back to just three miles. For the first time In a while it actually felt a little cook outside at dawn. It was only 65 degrees with similar humidity levels. It wasn't expected to last, however. We were expecting highs in the low 90s again.

I made eggs and lunch as soon as I was back. It was a New Albany day, and for the first time ever, I opted to wear jeans and a polo. And why not? Almost everybody there does, including their execs. Their work culture is much more laid back than ours.

As time permitted, I did a more work on the metrics for another customer's quarterly report. As lunch time neared (130p), I decided to make a run to the Easton Target to stock up on almonds. In the door I was determined to pay a visit to the pharmacy counter to say hello to Mary Ann if she was working. Although past experience shows they're generally closed for lunch break about the time I get in there.

Lo & behold, as soon as I round the corner to main aisle way I spotted Mary Ann walking towards me, presumably taking her lunch. I purposefully and abruptly engaged her, walking directly into her path. We chatted for a while sharing stories from each of our Outer Banks vacations. I was surprised to learn that they got home just the day before. Said had a lovely time in Okracoke but also shared that their vehicle was broken into while overnighting on the drive home in Charlottesville, NC. While we were chatting an older woman approached me insisting that I help her find the products she sought. She seemed unfazed when I explained that I didn't work there. In fact, even after Mary Ann offered her an assist she still insisted that I take her to the "inexpensive air fresheners one uses after they got to the bathroom." :) Before parting ways, Mary Ann and I agreed to get together soon. Before heading out, I picked up two bags of almonds (lightly salted and bold).

Before heading back to office, I made another stop just down the road at Dick's Sporting Goods to look at life vests. This time of year they're often marked 1/2 off. Sure enough, they had their good ones marked 1/2 off. The only problem was, they didn't have an the extra-large. While there I looked at instant up canopies. Considering buying one for the deck. Also looked at that Coleman 14' poly canoe again too. It's on sale for $350.

Back to the office by 230pm. By then it was approaching 90 degrees. The afternoon went fast. I left for home at 515pm arriving somewhere close to 6pm. Mindy wasn't home. She & Bella were off running Jacob to soccer practice. Mindy made tacos for dinner. Everything was all but ready. Mindy was back from dropping Jacob not five minutes after I got home. We quickly enjoyed our tacos and burritos before it was time to run Bella to gymnastics. I agreed to drop her off. She was worried that we would be late when I didn't leave the house until 650pm. But we ended up beating the instructor there and had to wait for a few minutes in the lot.

Jacob got home from soccer practice around 745pm. Mindy and I were hanging out in the livingroom by then, me lying on my back on the floor doing everything in my power to relieve a stiff neck and shoulder. Mindy agreed to go after Bella at 830pm. By then I was tired and nappy. To bed around 10pm.

Baby Grover (aka Sawyer)

It was another warm sticky morning only this time a bit cloudier. The forecast called for thunderstorms but I was a doubting Thomas. I did the usual morning thing: exercise, internet, meditate, stretch then run. I ran the full 4.1 miles after getting out the door somewhere close to 640am.

Prepped breakfast and lunch as soon as I was back home. Walked and fed the dog just ahead of my shower.

Mindy and the kids planned to meet my dad at the Der Dutchman in Plain City and then head to her friend Tara's place at Lake Choctaw. I mentioned a not so favorable weather forecast. She and the kids haven't had a lot of luck with the day's they've picked to head out there, especially considering that we've had so few rainy days.

Once again, I spent almost the entire day working on that same quarterly report. I was so deep into the data that the time literally flew by. I left for home shortly after 5pm having not taken any type of break all day long. I talked with Mindy who shared that they visited Tara but didn't go boating. The weather just wasn't conducive. They brought home of large box of Der Dutchman donuts and had a large vanilla cream filled Bismarck for me.

Early in the day, Mindy shared that her friend Karianne had her baby, a boy - Grover, 8lbs 6 ounces. She asked if I would go up to the hospital with her after work. Yes. But by the time I left for home I was mentally exhausted from a long work day. I begged out of the hospital visit. The kids were gone with their dad by the time I got home. Before heading off to see the baby, Mindy showed me the new running shoes she bought herself earlier in the day. You might be surprised to learn that they're purple. :) Mindy made arrangements to meet her teacher pal Phyllis near the hospital and then visit Karianne together.

I spent my relaxing evening alone playing on the internet, watering flowers, and napping. The kids were home around 815pm. Bella was disappointed that her momma wasn't yet home. Mindy didn't get home from the hospital until almost 845pm. She took the camera and showed us a few pictures she took of the new baby.

I spent the rest of the evening watching the Science Channel and napping. We headed to bed around 10pm.

A Visit from Lindy and Josh

I struggled to wake on time but was up early enough to carry on with my normal work day routine. Before a run, I exercised, enjoyed coffee and internet, meditated and stretched. It was a warm humid morning with a temperature near 80 degrees. Can't recall a summer when it's been so warm early mornings.

I headed out for a run around 645am running the full 4.1 miles. Back at the house I prepped breakfast and lunch then walked and fed the pug. A shower was next. Mindy got up with me to enjoy some coffee. I explained that it was too warm to hang on the deck. I didn't want to get all sticky before leaving for work.

I spent almost the entire work day developing a format for my newest customer facing monthly report. There were the usual daily interruptions to contend with too. Just before leaving the Honda dealership Friday at lunch, I was told to expect a survey call as soon as Monday asking about my service experience. They asked me to be kind. I planned to be honest and share that I had to crawl under the car and tighten the oil pan screw myself. The call never came.

The work day flew by. Soon it was time to head home. Mindy sent a text to Bella's gymnastics instructor letting her know that we were keeping Bella at home since she complained of a sprained wrist, an injury she acquired while playing baseball or kickball with Jacob and friends.

Mindy invited niece Lindy to stop by after dinner at Minelli's. She showed up around 630-7pm along with her boy friend Josh. It was Josh's first visit to our home. After a quick tour they all headed to the deck while I finished reading an article or two about the Vikings. I eventually joined them on the deck, but went to the chaise where I took a brief snooze. It was about 20 minutes later when I headed back inside after getting bit countless times by flies.

I snuggled up in the family room chair reading and relaxing. Jacob came in asking if he could take some fireworks outside. Yes. He was out there entertaining Josh. It must've been about 8-830pm when everybody came back inside. Josh showed us all a little physic trick, reigniting a candle by simply placing the flame inches above the wick in the smoke trail. I was doubter but it really worked.

After Lindy and Josh left we settled in watching the History Channel. I fell asleep on the sofa after Mindy and the kids headed off to bed much earlier.

My Big Risotto Balls

I slept well and woke Sunday morning near 8am feeling somewhat refreshed. Moreover, there were no carryover aches or pains from Saturday's fairly long bike ride. That made me happy. The sun was shining, too. I started coffee then headed to the PC. It was sunny & 68 but with humidity levels near 90%.

I headed out for a run around 9am running the usual three miles. It was an easy run. Mindy had designs on grocery shopping that afternoon and Lindsey and the boys were coming over to do laundry. According to Mindy, we'd have a break midafternoon while Lindsey took the boys to their baseball games in between loads of laundry. I Googled Strader's Garden Center for their mower repair shop hours and was surprised to discover that they were actually open on Sunday's. I called and was pleased to learn that they had the mower wheels I needed in stock. I planned to make a quick run up Riverside Dr to buy two. I'm thinking that it was near 11am when I headed there.

There was a much larger crowd at Strader's than I expected to encounter this late in the summer. I'll bet there were 30 cars in their front lot. I didn't bother walking through the nursery. Instead, I headed directly to the mower shop.
There I picked up two new rear mower wheels and two wheel covers. All totaled it was close to $60, but that's better than buying a new mower.

As soon as I was home I installed the two new wheels. Not much to it. Just bolt them on. I cleaned the mount first, though. Much better! Judging by how stiff the wheels were, I'm guessing the tow old wheels had been broken for some time before the one finally fell off Saturday. I cut the only piece of the lawn I wasn't able to reach with the tractor. That took no more than 5 minutes. By then Mindy had left for the grocery store. I spent the next 30 minutes weeding the front flower beds. For some reason the one on the east half of the yard gets lots of clover and other weeds. I filled a five gallon pail with weeds.

Lindsey and the boys showed while I was working in the beds. I was taken back when Lindsey opened the passenger side rear door and then walked away leaving Landon to get out all on his own in the middle of the street. This is something we've instructed her never to do several times. I gave her an earful for doing so. One of the boys could get hurt. She was in no mood for a lecture and let me know it. I turned my attention to Landon instructing him on why he shouldn't get out of the car street side. He promised he wouldn't any more.

Tossed baseball with Rocky for about 30 minutes. He's doing surprisingly well.

Kids and Lindsey left for ball game

Mindy home from grocery. Heads to pool with sister Jodi (hilltop).

With a couple hours to myself, I whipped up my first batch of risotto balls. The Digorgio rice swells 10 times its size. Tastes great fresh out of the pan. Spread on a cookie sheet the refrigerate for an hour or more. Prepare for deep frying: bowl of egg, bread crumbs, flour. All we have is vegetable oil that expired in 2008. I go ahead and use it. old oil smell. overwhelms the balls. Turn out just OK

Kids home from Jimaken weekend around 330pm. Bella can't believe her mom's at the pool.

Lindsey and the boys back after baseball games around 340pm

Mindy home around 420pm.

Lindsey & Landon head home with laundry around 5pm. Rocky elect to stay for dinner. Mindy arranges to drop him off sometime after dinner.

We grilled burgers

After dinner went on a bike ride. Mindy, Rocky & Bella take off without me. I found my Accord dripping oil after the oil change Friday. Found the oil pan nut loose.

Met up with the family gathered at the McVey's. Mindy and the kids inside. I talked with Lane and friend AJ (Pat McMasters son). Mindy and kids come out. Darwin soon follows. Shares news about losing another friend early Sunday am. The guy was 45 and died of a heart attack. Darwin was shaken to his core. One of his older son, Jordan's friends father.

We finish a short bike ride around the neighborhood but not before a brief stop to play in the neighborhood park.
Back at home, Mindy texts Lindsey then visits with neighbor Trena next door. I took a nap. Woke and played on PC. Learned that Mindy left to take Rocky home around 730-8pm. We stayed up until 10-1015pm. Off to bed.

Biking the Scioto Trail

I woke around 745am not quite sure if I was going to feel good or bad. After a total of 5 beers the night before I was wise enough to take three Advil just before bed. I am sure that saved me. After shaking off the cob webs, I felt fine. It was nice to see the sunshine again after a cloudy Friday, though I would have gladly accepted clouds if it would actually rain. As it was, rain wasn’t in the cards. It was expected to be mostly sunny with a high near 84 with lower humidity.

I played on the computer enjoying coffee and updating my blog with about 17 stale postings getting me current through something like Tuesday. That’s the longest I’ve gone without posting. Yikes! It was about 930am when I walked away, dressed for a run, and headed out the door.

It felt very comfortable out with slightly cooler temps and lower humidity. A few degrees and few percentage points make a big difference. I ran the usual 3 mile weekend trail. I wasn’t back at the house long before I headed out to install the new bike rack on the Pilot. I backed the Pilot into the drive then retrieved the new rack from the Accord trunk.

Assembly required, I wasn’t really expecting that. It wasn’t bad though. Had it put together pretty quickly. Mindy had already loosely discussed going biking and starting from the Whittier St Audubon park and biking the Scioto trail. She was up and joined me while I completed the assembly and mounted it on the Pilot. I wanted to go through the entire process of loading the bikes on and off before its maiden voyage, just to avoid any unexpected surprises. All seemed to go well.

After loading and then removing the bikes I added air to both of our bikes. Mine was especially low. I then reloaded the bikes and secured them with the provided strap. I showered. Mindy opted not. Said she’d shower after out bike ride. I’m thinking it was near noon or just after when we left the house for Whittier St. I was excited to do a bike ride somewhere other than our subdivision. The drive went fine. No unusual rattling or problems hauling the bikes.

Didn’take us long to get the bikes off the rack and trail ready. We secured the Pilot and headed off on the nearby trail. We were just there two weeks prior with the kids .We had a rough idea where the formal bike trail intersected with the park up along the river. We found it with ease and opted to head north towards 229, though the trail goes south along the river it appears all the way to Berliner park and past. It was a cool cruise along the river on a paved bike trail complete with a dividing lane line. Seemed too strange to look up and see skyscrapers and still be on my bike. After a quick mile were at 229 and Bicentennial park. Mindy stopped for a bathroom break. While she did that I took in the views.

From there we continued north along the river bike trail going past Santa Maria then onto North Bank park. On a bike it’s a lot closer than I imagined. We noticed lots of canoes/kayaks out on the river. On closer inspection, there was an outfit renting out the rigs all day. And on even closer inspection, it appeared that we were in the middle of a festival of sorts. Little did we realize that it was the Jazz & Rib fest. Cool! We rode slowly though but opted not to stop. Instead we biked onward up the trail along the river now heading almost due west.

The trail took us by the old Confluence park, which is one heck of a gem providing gorgeous views of the river and downtown. It’s recently changed hands. It’s now called the Boathouse. Looked like a wedding was scheduled for that afternoon. I asked Mindy if she thought it was affiliated with the new Boathouse along Griggs. Hmmm? From there we rode on to the intersect with the Olentangy River trail that runs north along Olentangy River Rd but out of sight if the traffic in amongst the river and flora. Lovely! We rode only a mile or two north before turning around and heading back to navigate more of the Scioto Trail wondering how close it might get us to home.

Turned out, the trail took us all the way to the Dublin Water plant before ending. We turned around to head back. This time we stopped at the Jazz & Rib fest taking in some jazz while walking our bikes. We ran into an old co-worker, Randy and his wife. We ran into the two of them at Barley’s a couple months ago. We chatted with the two of them for a while. Randy’s wife recommended the rails to trails bike trail in Hilliard that goes all the way into Plain City. Said it’s about 18 miles round trip and apparently mostly in amongst trees. Sounds nice.

We hung at the festival for about 30 minutes before heading back to Whittier St. However, this time we diverted to the trail on the western side of the river behind COSI or the old Central HS. That was nice too except for all the goose shit all but ruining the lovely concrete amphitheatre. We took that leg of the trail to its end at Dodge park. The last mile or so a bit unkempt as compared to the rest – some broken glass and graffiti every where. We crossed over one of the two new bridges back to the trail we started on. The bridge had a wide lane for bikes and walking, which is a very nice amenity.

Back to the car after another couple miles. What a nice ride it was. Saw the city from means and view I never imagined. My hats off to the mayor and council men and women who made this all possible. We had a blast and will certainly do it again soon. Mindy shared that she was tuckered. My legs were no worse for the wear. They might’ve felt a bit fatigued when we started but loosened up not a ¼ mile in the ride. I pushed it hard more than once towards the end.

Took only a few minutes to reload the bikes and strap them in. We headed for home, already after 330pm.

Our plan all along was to dine at CBC later that evening. However, before any of that I planned to cut the lawn and got busy with that not 20 minutes after getting back at home. I started with the push mower until one of the rear wheels fell off while I was mowing the strip between the sidewalk and curb. What the hell!

And because it's a self propelled mower, the inside of the wheel had a plastic gear that was snapped off. I tried rigging it up but quickly gave up. I left it in the garage with designs on stopping by Straders in the next couple of days to price/buy a new wheel.

In the meantime, I fetched the John Deere and cut as much as possible with it. When push comes to shove, I can cut a whole lot more with it than I typically do. It doesn't leave as clean of a line as the push mower does thanks in part to all curvy flower beds and slopes. And because I cut so much of it with the Deere, the work went a whole lot faster than usual. I was completely done by 530-6pm.

We readied for dinner out and headed to CBC near 630-7pm. We took an empty jug to have filled with Bodhi. We sat at the bar where Vince hooked Mindy up with a fruity non-alcoholic drink. Stella was in but not working. She was there with her mom and her daughter Olivia celebrating Olivia's birthday. Kate was dining with them too. We brought the Barley pig along and had Kate pose for picture with it. At the time she didn't know what or why we were having her do it. Mindy told her later that night. Her boyfriend is the manager of Barley's, where the pig came from. She found it hysterical. By the evening's end we had several photos of the Barley pig at CBC.

We ordered dinners. I had the barrel cut sirloin and it was cooked to perfection. Can't recall what Mindy had. We had Vince fill our jug with Bodhi before leaving for home. It was an early night for us, both of us tired and in much need of rest.

Oil Change, Big Al & Barley's

I was up on time to clouds but no rain. It looked like it might’ve rained just a smidge during the over night but not even enough to wet the walks and road. We just can’t seem to buy any rain. We’ve had only an inch or two in the last 6-8 weeks. The last rainfall I can recall was Father’s Day, and even then that was a brief, heavy shower. Of course were gone for 8 days too, when the extreme heat and thunderstorms rumbled through.

I completed exercises then enjoyed some coffee at the PC. Then after meditation and a stretch I headed out for a 4.1 mile run. Out the door it was cloudy, 74 degrees with 91% humidity – sultry! There was no threatening weather in the area but once again storms were forecasted for later. Right!

Packed my lunch and made my breakfast. Walked the pug after breakfast and just before a shower. She seemed grateful for the egg I placed on top of her food. Showered and ready for work by 805am.

Spent the entire morning and afternoon working on a new quarterly report. This was my peer, Lance’s last day. He was starting a new job the following Monday. He and a few others headed out for lunch. I stayed back citing my scheduled oil change appointment at Germain Honda at 1230pm, its first. We agreed to hook up another time, perhaps for a beer. I left the office at 1205pm and made it to Germain on Sawmill in less than 15 minutes. They were busy, but seemed to have enough service writers to handle the load. They completed some quick paper work then invited me to take advantage of their guest lounge or visit the showroom. I headed to the showroom.

I happened upon my salesman, Chris. Surprisingly, he remembered me. We chatted at length, me sharing my Hyundai nightmare. He said he’d keep an eye out for a good used Civic/Accord and call me. While we were chatting I spotted an older silver haired fellow walking up to the showroom. It was Al B., my ex-father-in-law. I joked with Chris that he’s a great guy, just couldn’t live with his daughter.

Turned out, Al was there to pick-up his new 2012 Accord. Traded in his 3 year old model. We chatted for quite a while. He hasn‘t changed much at all. I asked why he was trading in his current Accord. Explained that he back into his mailbox and they wanted to much to fix the deep scratch. Opted instead to trade it in on a new one. He’s always been like that. Told him I wish I’d known. I might’ve been interested in buying it for one of the girls.

I headed off on my own when Al went with his sales guy to look over his new white Accord. It was another 30 minutes or so before my car was ready. Got the oil changed, tires rotated, and an inspection for $35. Not bad. Looked like they washed it too. I made a quick stop at the Home Depot on Sawmill to get some D-Con rat poison to put under the deck where we have to 4” diameter holes from a rodent of some sort burrowing under. It may very well be a ground hog. I looked at more humane options, like the granular concoction that one can spread that supposedly detour rodents from the area for 30-60days. I opted for the d-con. Back to the office.

I continued working on the quarterly report until 415pm so I could dedicate the necessary time to my weekly administrative responsibilities. I managed to get through all of that and out of the office just before 5pm. The work week went fast. Glad it was over. I headed straight home. Called Mindy, but Bella answered. Aid her mom was busy in the basement, She went on to share that Jacob was grounded. According to Mindy, for being a PITA all day long.

It was a Jimaken weekend, and he was in the drive when I arrived home. They left a few minutes later. Mindy showed me the progress she’s made in the basement. Looking good. The would-be bathroom is almost entirely cleared out and all my storage containers are now on shelves. I noticed that she had 10 Barley’s jugs in a box that she wanted to return to Barley’s that evening. We planned to head there around 7pm.

However, before any of that, Mindy needed a shower after working in the basement all day. While she showered, I did a little writing in my blog. As expected, it was near 7pm by the time she was fully ready. She carried the box of Barely jugs to the Accord. I heard a crash of glass from in on the computer. The box split out and jugs were rolling down the driveway. Surprisingly, only one of them busted. We spent ten minutes or so sweeping up all the glass. I reinforced the box with masking tape to prevent a similar accident later at Barley’s.

Not very crowded at all. In fact, more sparse than most Tuesday’s. That happens sometimes mid-summer. I don’t think there was one regular at the bar, which is very odd. Mindy couldn’t drink alcohol due to the antibiotic she’s taking. I enjoyed their new ZIPA (a orange zesty IPA). It was good. She ordered food at some point, a grilled cheese and tomato soup. Later, we ordered 10 KC wings well done. I had three beers, my 2nd and 3rd Centennials. And since I was the only one drinking, our tab wasn’t that much. Mindy drove home.

We were home by 915pm. I suggested we pay a visit to Pat & Lisa. I noticed their deck lights on across the pond. I half expected Mindy to decline but she agreed to go. We left Eiknarf at home this time. I took one beer, a White Rajah.

Jamie was over with new baby Oscar. He was sleeping just inside the patio door. We yucked it up with Pat, Lisa, Jamie and Alena for 90 minutes or even longer, talking about all sorts of stuff including politics, which is always good for a healthy debate at Pat’s house. Before I even finished my White Rajah, Pat offered me a tall can of Guinness Draught. I accepted. It was good.

Mindy and I headed home around 11pm (guess). I woofed down a section of the sub still in the fridge and then a few potato chips just before heading to bed.

Ron Burgundy

I was up a few minutes after 530am and could smell the coffee brewing in the kitchen. Smelt terrific! I completed sit-ups then curls then spent a solid 20 minutes online while also enjoying coffee. Between 6-630am I did meditation and a stretch.

It was yet another steamy run with the temperature in the low 70s and the humidity near 90%. Storms were forecasted for the area, but if the past few days were any indicator, most would miss us. For whatever the reason, they seem to be either north or south of I-70. Just to our south they have been getting plenty of storm activity.

I ran the full 4.1 miles successfully. Back at the house I prepped my breakfast and packed a lunch, though I didn’t need a whole lot. I still had most of Tuesday’s lunch in the fridge at work. I walked Eiknarf ahead of my shower. We purposefully left the babygate downstairs. She’s been much better about roaming in the night. We may not have to use it anymore except for rare occasions when we want to keep her out of a room.

Mindy was taking her mom to a doctor’s appointment and my dad was coming by to keep an eye on the kids. Gloria was downstairs in the kitchen when I returned from my shower. I was genuinely surprised, thinking all along that Mindy was going to pick her up. A few minutes after they walked out the door my dad showed up. Said he caught them just as they were pulling away. That was right at 8am.

Before I left for work, Dad and I hung out for a while chatting about this and that. I joked that he may not have to do a whole lot since the kids have been sleeping increasingly late since our return from vacation.

I left for work around 820am. It was a pleasant and sunny drive into the office. I spent most of the morning working on yet another report, though this one quarterly in nature. I don’t believe I bothered taking a formal lunch break, choosing instead to eat from my desk.

I finished the report and updated the PowerPoint before the end of the work day. It felt good to get another big to-do off my plate but the celebration would have to be short lived. I needed to get cracking on two more significant reports on Friday, both of which are new to me, so there’s a certain amount of stress in the unknown.

Talked with Mindy on my drive home. Turns out, she was home o spell my dad by 1030am after her mom’s doctor’s appointment. Apparently her mom wasn’t interested in doing lunch. The kids were still sleeping when she returned home. Said she spent more time working in the basement before heading to her friend Tara’s house hoping to go boating. Storms apparently threatened the area west of CMH putting the kaboshes on any boating/water skiing. They only visited at the house.

Can’t recall what we had for dinner, the result of writing this entry 6 days in arrears. I watered the flowers front and back during the evening hours, once again having to wash away clusters of goose crap from the front lawn and walk. I hate those damn geese!

I spent an hour or so reading and enjoying ice water from the family room. Mindy and the kids insisted we watch a movie. We opted for Anchor Man. We were all a little surprised at the level of adult-only humor. Bella lost interest or was embarrassed. Not sure which. At any rate, she headed up to her room. Jacob seemed to enjoy the sophomoric Will Farrell humor. I fell asleep with 10 minutes or so remaining in the movie, but like many night’s past, struggled to fall soundly asleep once in bed.

Chilean Sea Bass

I was up at 535am after consciously permitting myself to sleep in a few extra minutes. I quickly completed calisthenics (sit-ups and push-ups) then settled in front of the PC with coffee around 550am. It was very warm, a balmy 80 degrees. The humidity was high too, 72%. I knew then it was going to be sultry run.
Like most other days, I meditated then stretched just ahead of my run. I felt good heading out the door near 635am.

I ran the full 4.1 miles and worked up quite a lather. It literally felt like a steam bath out there. The geese were congregated on the front lawn. I chased them away before heading inside to make breakfast and pack my lunch. Mindy prepared a tub of cut veggies to take. I quickly sliced up some cheese, grabbed a banana and some lime yogurt. Just like that my lunch was set. I made a cheese omelet for breakfast. It was good. I enjoyed my egg along with some fresh strawberries, cantaloupe and raspberries. I waited to walk Eiknarf until after I was out of the shower.

Mindy and the kids didn't have any big plans that I was aware of. I think she planned on working in the basement some more. There was rain forecasted on and off throughout the day. I wasn't banking on us getting any, however. And it was sunny when I left the house for work.

I took 670 east running into little traffic as I made my way to Morse and 270. Was there by 850am. And while I was there on the 27th of June, I didn't work from there that day. You may recall, that's the day I left my blackberry at home and had to head to our main office where I could log in to the network without using my secure token. So it it's been more like 4 weeks since I last worked from my customer's location. This time I had everything I needed to spend the entire day. The customer elected to cancel our weekly call since we'd be meeting at 11am for the monthly service review.

11am came around quickly. We met in the director's office in lieu of the conference room . Two of my co-workers joined remotely as well. The presentation was well received. I was more than half expecting to get an ass chewing. The numbers weren't as good as we would've liked, but they seemed to appreciate the candor and the detail. They went as far as to share that I've been exceeding their expectations. It felt good to receive some genuine praise for a job well done. I spent about an hour in my office before leaving for lunch, heading to the nearby Saturday's for a badly needed hair cut.

At Saturday's, I was ushered back right away. Cool. Same girl cut my hair that did it last time. I was really hoping that the manager, Jessica, would do it. As soon as I sat down the woman asked me if I knew anything about traffic cameras. At first I wasn't certain what she meant, but as went on it was apparent. She recently received two tickets for making right turns on red without stopping, both caught via the traffic camera located at one of the intersections across town employing that technology. Received both citations through the mail. She went on to ask about repercussions for not paying. My advice was to call and ask the citing town/city rather than take advice from friends and acquaintances.

She cut my hair a bit shorter than I really wanted, but again, I don't worry too much about it anymore. It grows back and it'll just be that much longer between haircuts. I'm guessing I won't need to go back for another cut until the week before Labor Day. After a quick haircut I zoomed across the street to Home Depot where I unexpectedly bought two tiny yucca plants. I've been looking for one like I found there for several months after admiring the one Kenny got from his grandpa. Back to the office.

I spent the afternoon working on escalations and reports. I didn't leave the office until almost 530pm, or about as late as I've stayed at the customer's New Albany location in quite some time. For dinner Mindy grilled Chilean sea bass along with some zucchini and sweet peppers. It was all very good. Hard to beat the taste of the Chilean sea bass. Yum-yum.

It was gymnastics night for Bella. Mindy ran her there but I agreed to pick her up. In between dinner and needing to pick-up Bella, I watered flowers and then did some reading and napping from the family room chair. I left to fetch Bella around 825pm. She was already done practicing when I arrived. The evening's class was taught by a substitute instructor, though Bella said she was really good and taught her a few things in a hurry. She was stoked.

Watched some TV from the comfort of the sofa. The kids wanted to watch movie but I was too into whatever I was watching. Headed to bed just after 10pm.

Becoming More Mobile

I let myself to sleep in by more than ten minutes, not finding my way downstairs until almost 545am. Often I wake still a little foggy but in most cases they're gone once sit-ups, push-ups, curls are in the bag. Tuesday was entirely different. I felt that I could fall asleep on command all day long.

I followed my usual routine but didn't get out the door for my run until 645am, however I still ran the full four miles. It was very warm and muggy with a temperature near 75 degrees and the humidity around 85%. In fact, it was expected to get into the upper 90s again. Much to my surprise, Mindy was up and making my breakfast when I got back from my run. That saved me a bunch of time. I walked Eiknarf then returned to eat my eggs. I was off to the shower by 740am which is right about normal. Thanks Mindy!

Mindy & the kids had designs on boating/skiing at Lake Choctaw with her friend Tara. Mindy saw me off to work near 825am. I was still feeling rather sluggish and sleepy. I felt a lot of pressure to get my monthly presentation completed and ready for Wednesday morning. I spent the entire morning doing that. I made excellent progress and by lunch time I had it all but ready. That was a load off my mind. To celebrate, I took lunch and drove up to Sawmill Rd and Performance Bikes to look at and likely purchase a bike rack for the Pilot. I didn't realize before hand, but Performance Bikes is directly across the street from Germain Honda. Had I planned better, I could've scheduled an oil change and shopped for the bike rack while I waited.

Performance Bikes had the Thule 4-bike rack I was looking at online but had it priced $20 higher than their internet price. I asked about the difference. The gentleman promised to match the internet price. I really don't retailers that do that. Best Buy used to be notorious for that. They faced all sorts of legal problems for doing so. I went ahead and bought the rack as well as a frame bar for Mindy's bike that will allow it to sit in the craddle like my bike. The box fit nicely in the trunk of the Accord. I headed back to the office.

I ate my lunch once I was back at the office and then spent the remainder of the day putting the finishing touches on Wednesday's presentation. I emailed it out just before leaving for home. As it turned out, Mindy & the kids never went out to Tara's. Mindy said the kids slept ridiculously late. Bella didn't get up until almost 1pm. Instead, Mindy did more work in the basement, organizing, stowing, and cleaning in preparation for the finishing project. Mindy said she was grilling pork chops for dinner.

I got home earlier than usual. I think I was home by 535pm. Dinner was soon ready. Mindy, Jacob and I enjoyed the chops. Bella, however, wouldn't eat them. Instead, she had a hot dog.

I was still crazy tired and as soon as dinner was cleaned up and put away I took to the family room chair with my book, but hell bent on dosing. I napped on and off for about 30 minutes. And believe me, that felt terrific. Afterwards I got a bit of a second wind and spent an hour or so writing in my blog. I hadn't published anything since June 28th but had written up through our last day in Corolla as well as a few days from the week prior. I wasn't worried about it. Mindy summed it up well when she commented that if it feels like a chore why do it?

I headed out to water flowers around 8pm. Being out there stresses me out when I see all the goose damage to the lawn. I spend half my time spraying the many piles of shit in the yard until they disintegrate. One might've thought I would head to bed early after feeling so tired all day but I didn't. Instead, I stayed up watching the Science Channel until 10-1030p. I knew I was going to sleep well once my head hit the pillow. I had a couple work related issues whirling in my brain preventing my mind from slowing down.

Bleak Taste of Normalcy

Monday and time to return to normalcy. I got up from bed a tad early. I think it was 520am. I felt pretty good despite getting only about 6 hours of quality sleep. Soon I was downstairs exercising contemplating my return to the office. For one reason or another, I felt a sense of doom. Still not sure why, though I'd been concerned about my new accounts at work and the unknown that comes along with all that for the last month. I guess then, my return to work represented facing reality whereas vacation allowed me to have a gap in between.

I followed my tried and true routine as close as possible. Most of it second nature having done this stuff for 15+ Years now. More than anything it was the need to reintroduce discipline relative to time spent on any one thing, especially internet. I fooled around online sipping coffee until 605am. Meditation and stretching went extremely well. I felt really good dressing for my run and heading out the door a bit before 630am.

I ran four miles for the first time in over a week. My legs felt about as good as they have since pre-vacation. I was happy for that, especially since Sunday I felt more drained than ever. The run went well, cleansing even. Something about the strict work routine that feels really good. Now if I could just figure how to make the work itself feel as good. :)

Back at the house near 710am, I proceeded to start some eggs and prep my lunch. I was done with all of that before 730am. I walked Eiknarf before heading to the shower. She was patiently waiting just the other side of the baby gate in Bella's room. I was showered and ready to go by 8am. Mindy stayed in bed after my shower, obviously still not feeling the greatest.

I headed towards the office in the lovely morning sunshine and summer warmth near 820am. Sad. sobering could best describe the feeling heading into the office and up the elevator. Once in my office I went through the usual prep, stowing my food in the fridge and then going for a pitcher of ice water. There weren't a lot of folks around to interact with. My feeling weren't hurt. My boss poked his head in asking me to take a mandatory training class that came about in my absence. I put everything else aside and addressed the online course first thing. It didn't take that long, maybe 25 minutes. Sometimes I think we put too much emphasis on stuff like that. Oh well, welcome to corporate America. Also, at his prompting, I shared a little about my two week vacation. I went on to express my concern with having to do monthly reports while off. He insisted I adjust my time accordingly. I did, but conservatively, taking back only 8 hours when in reality it was something more. I tried to make it clear that it wasn't so much the recovery of vacation hours as it was the inability to fully let go and relax. Pending/looming deadlines were almost constant in my thoughts.

I had a lot to do, including finishing up my primary monthly reports for Wednesday's presentation. I worked on the details pretty much all day. At lunch I opted to head to Home Depot. There I bought some hummingbird nectar. I stopped in Target, right next door, and bought some (can't recall). Back at the office after being out about 45 minutes I finished the major task on my daily to-do list. Before leaving for the day, I scribbled out Tuesday's list.

I left for home near 530pm. I don't think that I called Mindy. I was a little surprised to see dad's minivan in front of the house when I pulled up. He was over for dinner and sitting on the deck talking with Mindy while she grilled chicken. Dinner was grilled chicken served over a bed of rice topped with peach mango salsa. It was quite good. And since it was Monday, that meant a return to gymnastics for Bella. She was excited to be going back after a two week break. Mindy wanted to take her, had an errand to run while out. Those two left near 655am. Dad and I sat at the kitchen table chatting for a good 20-30 minutes. He left for home around 730pm.

After dad left I changed into my comfy lounge clothes then snuggled up in the family room chair with my book. Felt good. Not sure the time when Mindy got back. She headed off to pick-up Bella again around 825pm. I assumed all along that I would be doing it. I appreciated the kind gesture. She knew I was in a bit of shock, getting back in my routine after two weeks.

We watched a little TV through the evening leading up to 930-10pm when Mindy and I headed for bed. I was super sleepy but struggled to fall immediately asleep. I think the few cat naps I took downstairs were the cause.

When Vacation Ends

I was up around 7am. I was pleased to see the sunshine again after only one day’s absence. It was warm and steamy – 74 degrees and 90+% humidity. After a little coffee and internet I was off on my run doing the usual three miles (It would be back to 4 miles come Monday). The run went just fine.

Mindy was up and about soon after my return. We chatted and enjoyed coffee opting to hang inside instead of out in the extreme humidity. I talked about the rotting trim on the half moon window needing replaced. And as we talked we figured out the best way to cut the halfmoon trim to fit perfectly. Almost at the same time we talked about using a string, nail, and pencil like protractor. All I would need to do is measure the radius, that of course, assuming the window is a true half circle.

I was eager to get the measurement then transfer those very same measurements to the faux wood I salvaged from the front of the house where I installed the cedar lap siding late spring. I measured the radius twice and also measured the diameter. The radius top to bottom was within a measured ¼” of the diameter. Cool. I knew it was true.

I laid the faux wood on the ground next to the shed and got out my 29-3/4" string w/pencil and attached the other end of the string with a nail. As soon as I began tracing it out it occurred to me that I hadn't accounted for the width of the trim, or another 5-3/8". Turned out that piece of faux wood wasn't large enough. I'll have to find another solution.
I scraped the project for the time being.

Mindy headed off to the grocery store during afternoon sometime taking the Pilot. While she was away I washed the Accord thinking my efforts would almost assuredly bring rain. :) I detailed the Accord inside and out. And since I had the hose out, I watered all the flowers too.

I left the shop-vac out so I could vacuum out the Pilot once Mindy was back from the grocery. I helped her carry the groceries in then spent a good half hour vacuuming the Pilot. Holy smoke was it ever filthy. Not only was there sand everywhere from the beach vacation, but food crumbs and dirt galore. I took the time to clean the interior surfaces with water and just a tad of Fantastik. It looked great when I was done.

We had dinner around 530pm, but can't recall what Mindy prepared. After dinner we went on a quick family bike ride. I was tuckered out, both from a day's worth of yard chores but also from two weeks of vacation. We headed back to the house after one 2 mile lap.

Mindy decided it was time to take the baby stuff to Lisa that she told her about the evening before during our after dinner visit. While she headed across the pond, I decided to take care of a few remaining chores, including putting the heavy fiberglass extension ladder away. I also cut the thin strip of lawn (about 12') between us and Trena's. It's really the only part of our lawn that still looks springtime lush. I used the tractor. Why not?

Now about 8pm, I was ready to kick back with a glass of ice water and let the vacation end. On one hand I was more than OK with returning to work. On the other, I was sad to see it end. I'll add this, taking two weeks is definitely the way to go. The only thing I would do different would be to avoid work 100% I let that leave a bit of a stain on my 16 days off.

I watched a little History Channel, another one of those Universe programs for the duration of the evening. I headed to bed near 1030pm. I was so tired physically, but my mind thinking about work, and all I needed to get done in the coming days. In kind, it took a while for me to fall asleep.

Numbers & Letters (229 & CBC)

I was up around 730am. It was cloudy and 70 degrees. I spent the next 90 minutes enjoying coffee and internet. Near 9am I headed out for a run. Because there was no sunshine, it was a whole lot easier to run, though it was still pretty humid.

The O’Connell family and the Gardner kids were just about to leave for their Disney vacation as I ran past their house. All the kids were packed into their new Pilot. I talked with them for a couple minutes, wishing them a fun, safe trip.

Mindy and the kids were up soon after I returned from a run. I didn’t have much planned project-wise, but headed out to scrub the stucco under the window trim I replaced on Friday. There were rust and mildew stains on the stucco. I used a pail of water and Clorox spray cleaner and a stiff bristled brush. That worked reasonably well. While up the ladder I observed the boys playing airsoft. I don’t think they noticed me up high on the ladders. When Rocky was found hiding in the brush he cried like a little girl for mercy. I shamed him for the act. Told him to take his airsoft stuff inside if he didn’t want to play.

I Windexed both west-facing windows after scrubbing the stucco. Collectively, I spent about an hour on the ladder. Mindy shared that Lindsey was coming by near 12-1pm to do her laundry. We were also expecting Jimaken to pick-up the kids near 3pm. They’d be spending the night with him.

I tinkered in the yard for most of the early afternoon, taking care of a handful of small tasks. For one, I repaired/rigged the patio umbrella that broke during the recent storm. Two of the seven ribs that support the umbrella were broken completely in half. I used stiff metal rods to support the broken ribs like a splint. The rods fit nicely into the hollow broken metal tubes. Works almost like new again. I also put away a lot of tools I used on the window trim project.

After Lindsey showed up I tried hard to steer clear to avoid any confrontation. Consequently, we talked very little. Mindy left to run some errands in the Accord. Can’t recall where she went. I took care of removing the Thule from the Pilot. Before stowing it back in the shed I installed two more stickers, one form the OBX and another from Myrtle Beach. I fertilized all the flowers and pulled weeds from the flower beds.

Jimaken showed up to get the kids around 330pm. Lindsey and the boys were still there finishing up laundry. I’m guessing that they were there until about 430pm. Mindy and I planned to do dinner out. We chose 229. The sky cleared partially late afternoon. We even got some brief sunshine, which only made the humid air more moist. Mindy checked with Kenny & Chrissy to see what their plans were since they wouldn’t have any kids for a week. They were going out to dinner too, but not with us.

We showed up at 229 around 7pm. It was fairly active down there. We had to park at a meter a couple blocks from the venue. No problem. Meters are free after 6pm on weekends. Sadly, the sky was overcast making for a flat backdrop to an otherwise gorgeous setting for photos. It took a few shots anyway. Mindy & I chatted with Daniel the manager who quickly found us one of the few remaining tables available on the patio. It wouldn’t have been my 1st choice, but the wait for a table looking out over the river would have been long.

Our server was Jade, a Latino women. She took our drink orders promptly. I ordered a CBC IPA. Mindy just water due to the antibiotics she’s taking which mandate no alcohol for 10-13 days. Can someone say built in DD for 13 days!!!!! I almost cried when Jade shared that they were out of CBC IPA. And just as I was about to order a regular CBC pale ale, she shared that they were out of it too. Suddenly, I didn’t want to be there. Nothing else sounded remotely good. I could see the panic on her face. Mindy joked that they should simply go get some right around the corner from the CBC brewery. Another server nearby overheard the conversation and came by to share that they just got more in and were back there tapping it! Jade was happy, and so was I.

We ordered two appetizers, the four snacks (bacon wrapped gorgonzola stuffed dates) along with warm pretzel bread. We enjoyed the appetizers and the one beer. Somewhere along the line I mentioned that we should leave and visit CBC. I was really craving a Bohdi! Mindy was more than agreeable. After about a 45 stay we paid our bill tipping jade handsomely then headed off for CBC.

At CBC it felt a whole lot more like home. Vince served me a Bodhi without even asking. He was ready to pour Mindy some wine, but we stopped him. She can’t drink. We chatted with all the CBC peeps through me having two Bodhi’s. After learning about the dinner special we agreed to share one. It was a steak over garlic smashed potatoes topped with crab and sautéed green beans. We shared a salad too. The dish was exquisite!

We were at CBC until about 930pm. Mindy said she was tired, wanted to get home. I was tired too, this my last night of vacation.  At home I noticed that Pat's deck lights were on and asked Mindy if she wanted to join visiting the neighbors, Pat & Lisa. She did. I opened a beer and we walked over taking the pug on her leash after she looked at us with sad eyes.

Pat, Lisa, and Alena were entertaining and old friend of Pat's, Joe & his wife (can't readily recall her name). We sat with the five of them yucking it up for a bit more than an hour. After I finished my beer (#400 Monkey IPA), Pat offered some 'hoppy' beer he had in his fridge. I think it was made by Yeungling. I didn't recognize it, however. It wasn't that good, but I didn't complain. We had fun. We headed home near 1130pm where Mindy pretty much headed straight to bed. I, on the other hand, stayed up for another 20 minutes or so catching up on the Reds big walk-off win and then having a late night snack.