??? creepy

a second cup...

I like my coffee like I like my women;

Black and bitter,
full of body and sweet,
tan and easy to go down,
steamy and imported,
Frothy? Half caf? with a twist?

Ive been enjoying a night cap of coffee in the last few weeks.  Its a dark sin that I enjoy. The mug I drink out of is a 16oz mug and I usually load my coffee with heavy cream and 2 Tsp of sugar. Its probally not the best thing for me but I have been enjoying the routine of a nice cup of Joe. Add to this a cookie and my evening is just about complete.

     I've noticed that most of my friends are not coffee drinkers. They take their caffine as a cola or energy drink. While I do drink those when I'm running short on time I enjoy the small ritual of coffee and cream. The smell of a fresh brewed pot, the cooling milk and a tablespoon of sugar.  I think if I had been British I would enjoy full english tea as well. While with tea its a bag and hot water I do appreaciate the ritual of the pour. 

      Most Americans do not have any rituals that they follow. We are a mishmash of cultures from the far corners of the Earth. The rituals we do have here in the US are only a little over 200 years old.  We do little to honor the dead. We do little to honor the town or city where you live. The only rituals I see that are National are the Fourth of July, Memorial day and Veterans day. The other holidays have become nothing more than an excuse to  drink or to have a sale. Presidents day, MLK day, Cinco de Mayo (not yours), St Paddys (again not ours), Christmas (the biggest offender in comercilism), Easter (Bunnys and chocolates?, Whens the last time you went to chuch for the story), Arbor day (??), Earth day (buy some compact fluorescent bulbs), Valentines (buy a card and chocolates), sweetest day (buy a card). Mothers day still retains tradition with taking mom out. Thanksgiving is also still very traditional, but the day before has become a drinking holiday and the day after is a joke for consumers (BLACK FRIDAY).  

    I'm going to keep one tradition for my self. Its a simple cup of coffee and a cookie. I hope you all have at least one tradition that does not involve going shopping or going to the mall. Peace.

BICYCLE, BICYCLE!!!!!!

                     Not a bad weekend in all. I had a good chance to spend times with the kids as well as do the yard work. Mow, clip, sweep, prune and plant. I rode the bicycle with the kids on Sunday. It was very pleasant having both boys riding after me. We wound up at a local park and played Simon Says and red light green light. Me a 285 lb man in a black stocking hat and black hoodie hanging out with mini people. I may have drawn a few sideways looks , but we had fun. It was a good day. Its fun being an oddball parent.
               After the yard work and laundry work I finally had some alone time and I took the bike out again. I got in about 3 miles before I found a large box of Mason jars by the curb of a house. The subdivision had the bi annual garage sale so I was guessing these were extras. I rang the bell and I think I surprised the lady. Again the biker looking Latino asking about canning jars. I asked if she was giving them away I would take them as we jar jelly's and jams. I think I stunned her because I know what I was talking about on how and what to can. I put the box on the handle bars and rode away. Smart? Not Smart? An open box of large glass mason jars on the front of a bicycle. All I needed was a good bump or swerve inside that last mile and I would have been sliced in to ribbons. Thats why I'm not a rocket scientist. I made it home and unpacked the jars. Some were classic jars that were a blue glass that you do not see any more. One was about a half gallon size that would be used for whole fruit.
My legs were better and my butt still hurts after the ride, but I am enjoying being a little kid again. I hope I have time to get better in riding and able to increase my miles as I get going. If I can do this every day/every other day and show improvement I t would be great.  I bought a water cage to hold a bottle and I am pricing a rack and bags. That way I'll be able to carry my clothes to work.  Yes yes yes _ should look in to a helmet, but I grew up with out them and I just don't know.....Maybe If I was putting in 100's of miles in a week then I'd get one. For 5 to 10 miles a day every now and then... maybe not...... We'll see.

Large fella on a bike .... the story

***LInky, Linky*****

I think he's grown a bit pompous as he's lost weight, but losing over 200lbs is great. Put your money where your ass is.......

Fat Man on a little bike...

Well I guess it was ; the cost of gas, the emergence of the new "green" movement, me turning 40 and wanting to be more healthy and an inspirational blog (Large man on a bike ((I'll post the link later))) that made me go out and buy a bike. Not a motorcycle, but a regular bicycle. Its an older bike but it only cost $40. I saw it on craigslist and I know that new it sold for about $300-400. Now 15 years later I thought that $40 was not a bad deal. I met the owner at his house and knew this was not an abused bike. He was an older man about 65-70 and was making room in his garage. I took a quick look and handed him the money. His wife said he tried to take up biking but that fell through. It could be a bit bigger but for what I need it for it works fine. Its an old Raleigh Technia ovation, It has the colors of a decade gone by.  A light tan/grey body with some minor stripes of an old green and pink.  The late 80's early 90's were not kind with colors. I don't mind them at all as long its not all pink or rainbow colored. (Pics to follow).
              The gearing worked great and smooth so did the brakes. I did have to go and buy a tire patch kit. I'll tell you I have not done that in over 10 years. I bought the new fancy pre-sticky patches so it was not bad at all. No dealing with the glue and a match. Once the wheel was back on it took about 10 minutes to change the seat and handle bar height then I was off. The bike has an Aluminum frame and Shimino shifters. For its age it probably the most advanced bike I ever had.  The old Huffy was made of old American iron and 4x4's. It weighed a lot then and was built to last forever.
                Fat Man on a little bike..... I was a bit shaky at first but that passed rather quickly. After a few peddles and I was off. You really do not forget how to ride a bike. Your body remembers how to lean in to a curve and when to coast.  I will tell you that my legs and back started to hurt after about a mile and a half and my butt hurt after another mile. I laughed to my self on how many miles I must have put in as a kid. Every day I rode my old Huffy. Rain or shine to school and across town to the pool. Miles of just glorious riding and being a kid. All with out headphones (Walkman or MP3Player) and a helmet. No lights and pads.  All done with out fear. Last night I wore a bright safety orange vest that I have for the motorcycle. The bulk of my riding is going to be at night so  I'm going to buy a few lights for night riding and perhaps a pannier to hold saddle bags. I don't want to spend a lot on it because the bike was so cheep.  I saw on line some cheep and bright ones from China that are cheep. For under $20 bucks I will have two 57 LED lights on the handlebars. I want to bee seen. Once that is done I may wind up taking it to work a few days a week. The bags can hold my work clothes and I can change here.  Its not going to save me tons in gas savings but I think I will be better for it. I even saw plans for small wagons that you add on to the back of the bike, but thats another story.  

      Riding twice a week for 5 months is only about 4 gallons of gas, but I think that 100 miles will do my heart good. I've been taking a daily aspirin as well as a multivitamin and fish oil. The road to 40 is mentally a rough one for me. I don't know why. Maybe its the feeling that my own clock is ticking faster for me.  I'm trying to put my finger in the dike or to hold off the sea.  Its OK. 40 is just a number.  40 is the new 30? Riiiight......

     I am going to ride daily when I get home. Well let me rephrase that I am going to try to ride daily when I get home. Thats the plan. I hope I'm strong enough to hold to it. 3-5 miles at first then to ten.  I have no lofty goals with this but I think I can make this part of my daily ritual. Its only one more mile.

*************************************

The Blog I saw that really inspired me is called Large man on a bike. Its a tale of a man who weighed over 500  pounds and needed to get living again. He said at one time he was only able to take 9 steps at a time and then needed to catch his breath afterward. His first bike ride of one mile took over three hours  to complete. Now several years later and 285 lbs lighter he life is turned around. He eats well and he does look good for what he went through.  I'll link to his blog once I remember how to do so.

38,38,39,40? What happened to 26?

I've felt lost this past few days if not weeks. I think its wanting to be young again. To catch the lost moments between landmarks. The ability to call up a friend and know they were not doing any thing either and just hang out. Money was not a necessity. If you have a fiver you could get a few beers and just chill. Don't get me wrong I love to hang out with my friends and many times that what we do- hang out. We order in some food and watch a bad movie or 2 on the telly. Even just sitting doing nothing with a few friends is a blast. For me anyways. No rush to pick up the kids, go to work, meet clients and be an adult. I had the leisure of being able to sleep in, to drink the night away and smoke till dawn. To decide to drive downtown or go to southern Illinois to just say hi to a friend.

The weight of adulthood is at my side. The cost of many many things keep me working. I'm not going to list any thing because its more than likely the same list of responsibilities you look at every day.  The best part is that for the most part (99.99%) I love my responsibilities. I love my boys,  the house the yard and everything else. But there are days that I wish I could have just one day back as a kid. Maybe one day in 1986, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1997. Just one day to be a knuckle head and just sit on the stoop and hang out drinking some cheep beer and listening to music.  I would not attempt to change the world or any thing else like that just a day to enjoy your youth. They do say it and it is true "The youth is wasted on the young." 

I know I sound like an old geezer when I post like this. I'm really not. I'm just a guy that is counting down my 40th this year.  In theory I'm at my mid life if I were to reach 80. I'm going to hope I reach that in decent health, but the national average is about 73. So according to statistics I'm on a sharp decline.   At best looking at a national average I have about 33 years to go until I hit the ground running. 

Some times I watch the news and I hear about a person thats 100 +. As of right now thats an additional 60 years. Is this good? with a longer life does each act in your life mean less? I know the chance for tragedy increases. Burying your friends and family will become a fact. The loss of mental facility's will come in to play. I don't know if its worth it. Could I make it to 2068?

I watch TV and I try to notice people that are 40, 45 and 50. I hope I age better than most of them. Many people my age look like Carl from Aqua teen Hunger force or worse. I think I'm doing OK, granted I could always be doing better, less weight, eating better and better quality of foods. Then again who couldn't be.  If I didn't work a odd work schedule I could get out and do things.  I know I could always wake up earlier and go for a walk/run/ride/skip/wiggle/waddle/hop/swim/jog/sprint or any other means of locomotion but sleep is such a precious commodity.

Any ways thanks as always for listening me vent. I just think I'm in a mental funk about the big 40.  ....... "Forty is the new thirty" ... yea right for some Forty if the new fifty....... 

PAX AMERICANA

$107.00 an hour....

I wish they kissed me when I pay that much an hour.  Arrrrrrggggg!!!!!!! It starts out small as most things do.  A drip in the kitchen that was coming from upstairs. The dripping must have been going on for some time in order to soak through drywall ceiling. I called the plumber and made the appointment. "How much? (FRACK!!!) OK come on over." I can not sodder Copper or build links. I just do not have that level of man skills. The plumber came in and looked at the work. He said that I could do it and would save money. Well that was the day before yesterday. What was supposed to be a 10/15 minute job took me an hour before I quit. Now here I have a house with no running water at all .The cylinder in the faucet was seized due to hard water build up.  I destroyed the cartridge inside the copper pipes as I tried to remove it. I called and the only appoint ment he had to work with was on emergency time. Ahhhh no thanks. That would have been a $100-200 more than what I had spent.  So for that night it was no water in the house. No ice, no showers no toilets. I "borrowed" 40 gallons in buckets from the neighbor to cake care of business. I also went and bought 5 gallons of drinking water for coffee and lemonade as well as essentials. Man it was living in a third world.  I would have rather been with out power than water.  I re scheduled the plumber and came back to rebuild the octopus of copper in my walls. The good part it was under $150 for the time and parts. Now I have to dry out the drywall and re do a portion of the ceiling and the wall in my sons room. Its always a project in the house. 

Stay dry everyone....

 

Cinco de blagh.....

Happy Cinco de Mayo.
      This is always a weird holiday for me because I always consider my self American first and Mexician second. When I was born about 40 years ago it was a very different world than today. What was stress in the house was how to fit in. English first. Celebrate American holidays. Try to make American foods. Granted we did always have salsa at home and tortillas sat next to the Wonder bread. 
      This generation of immigrant wants the country to bend to his will. The pride in the US is gone and they only have a sense of just staying for awhile then going back. For me I have zero tollerance on that type of visitor. Learn or try to learn the language. If I see someone making the effort I will try to meet them half way. When I see someone come in to the store and demand some one who speaks Spanish I tend to get angry and just speak to them in English and tell them that I understand it very well I just speak English.

I complain about this every year. I'm all for the Fenceline across the US/Mexico border. Lets control who gets in to the USA.. Let place heavy fines on companies that employee.  We have currently over 1.5 Million people here that are not supossed to be here. Lets put that in to perspective, Thats about the entire population of Chicago proper.

I'm first generation here and I'm at a loss for the new generation here. Kids born here that can't speak English.  I'm done complaining, The first person with a concrete answer gets my vote in November.