Garage Sale!

Today we held a three generation, 4 couple garage sale at Michelle's parents house in Ferndale. Attendance was pretty good, we sold quite a bit of stuff, but there was definitely more than a car load left when we were done. So we decided to cart it all down to Ben's place in downtown Ferndale and do it all over again next Saturday. Michelle did a lot more work than me getting ready for today's sale, so she's not too excited about putting signs up or getting ads in the paper. I, on the other hand, didn't do any work and I got a little taste of how much fun hosting a garage sale can be. So I'm excited to make signs, promote the sale, and collect up things to sell. Everything must go by 1:00pm next Saturday! No reasonable offer refused!

We made a little over $60 today, and we cleaned out our house of stuff we don't use. I very much like both ends of garage sale-ing, and I hope it's a regular aspect of my life in the future.

I may post a few pictures if I get around to it...

Biking and Gardening

Recently I've been biking to work. I borrowed a vintage Fuji 18 speed from Michelle's Dad, and it's taken me a week or so to get used to the friction shifting, located on the frame. I took it in to Kulshan Cycle today after work because it's been slipping teeth, especially when I'm putting a lot of torque on the pedals. I thought it needed a new chain, but it turns out it just needed to be lubricated and worked in a bit. One of the bike mechanics loosened it up for me and put some penetrating oil on it. It was like night and day - now it's really smooth. I bike about 2.1 miles one way to work every day, and it's really a relaxing ride. Not much traffic, except for one intersection, and it's relatively flat. I'm getting exercise, saving money on gas, and not polluting. It's been really eye-opening actually. Biking to work is really convenient.

This spring Michelle and I planted a garden in one corner of our friend Bea's garden. Bea has chickens, a dog, and some cats, and she recently acquired some ducks. It's a blast to go over to her place. The chickens sometimes segregate themselves into a corner of the yard, and when you come in they all come marching out, like they're on patrol, to investigate the situation. We planted carrots, radish, bell peppers (which didn't come up), cucumbers, broccoli and some flowers. All from seed! I'm pretty impressed with the broccoli - it's big and we just harvested the first three heads. We've got all the radish we know what to do with. Let me know if you have any good recipes that feature radish, or if you want any fresh radish. I like gardening because it reconnects me to the basic functions of life. It's very real. I feel like a lot of peoples lives, mine included, are a little pie-in-the-sky. I counted the other day, and I think my real job, while very necessary, is about 4 degrees of separation from providing for people's basic needs.

Speaking of my real job, click here for a link to some work I did recently. Click on the "Salary Matrix" link. That's all me!

Blogs of Note

So I've been planning on highlighting a couple blogs for the last week or so. I really need to start building "blogging time" into my daily routine.

Patrick and I meet for breakfast every Thursday. He spent 2 or 3 years living in Central Mexico after university, and he met his wife there. While he was there he collected 43 stories based on his experiences and I find them fascinating to read. He has cleaned up and posted 23 of them so far at patvoy.blogspot.com. They are worth checking out.

Eric and I met in Calgary when I was going to U of C. His blog is a collection of quotes and passages from books he's reading. I try to check in regularly, but he's a pretty prolific reader (and blogger). Recently I asked him how he reads so much, and if it ever feels like a chore to him (sometimes it does to me). He said:

First of all, I read a lot of fiction which I really enjoy and it doesn't seem like work to me. I try and balance that with some non-fiction that really interests me (usually history, politics and economics). I am about to read Common Wealth by Sachs (I'm pumped). Mostly I only make myself read something when I really want to read it. I leave books until I think, "I should read that, I bet its good". The Devils by Dostoevsky has been sitting on my shelf for 2 years. Reading should be fun, if it isn't right now, take a break. And don't worry about "I need to read everything" because you won't, and that is OK.

He's right - I won't read everything. And it is OK. I needed to hear that - reading is again a peaceful, fulfilling activity for me. Anyway, check out his blog at raskolnikov-thethingsiread.blogspot.com.

Spirited Away

Spirited Away is an animated Japanese movie in the vein of Alice in Wonderland. I have to admit, it was a little wierd, but that was also part of the appeal. For example, Chihiro's parents weren't animated to fit the western stereotype of what animated Japanese people look like. They were animated the way Japanese people see themselves (the parents, and Chihiro, were very nationality neutral). At the same time, the characters exhibit unique and distinctly Japanese, or maybe Asian, mannerisms. It was cool to watch. It was also cool to look at. I don't know much about animation, but this movie used a different technique than I have seen before. The shots out the car window were particularly interesting.

In terms of the plot, it made just enough sense to keep me watching, which isn't saying a whole lot because I have a low tolerance for things not making sense. I was thinking about one scene again today and I realized that there was a subtle but powerful environmental message that I didn't pick up on until now. If you like foriegn films or the fantasy genre, this is one you should see. IMDB tells me it won the 2003 Oscar for Best Animated Picture.

In other news, I started biking to work this week. I borrowed a touring bike, complete with saddle bags for a change of clothes and shoes and what not. It hasn't rained on me yet, so I'm still liking it.

Countdown to Bowron Lakes trip: 26 days!

To Kill a Mockingbird

I finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird a few days ago, and I really enjoyed it. Sometimes I wonder if serious literature isn't wasted on High School students. No offense to High-Schoolers, but I certainly wasn't at a maturity level in High School to appreciate the themes that this book brings up. It makes me think that I should re-read The Outsiders and Fried Green Tomatoes, the two I remember reading in High School.

I have a lot of respect for the way writers like Harper Lee are able to create engaging, enjoyable stories and characters and at the same time address themes like racism, stereotyping, and cultural norms. Getting into the minds of Scout and Jem as they attempted to reconcile their natural and innocent understanding of fairness with the behaviors and attitudes of the community around them was fascinating. I wonder what assumptions I make on a day to day basis just because, subconsciously, I've agreed to it with everyone around me. I have a suspicion that the underlying principle persists, but I think in 50 years we'll look back and see the effect in totally different issues. Animal rights, maybe? Consumerism and "externalized costs" (see thestoryofstuff.com)? Probably not - probably something else I haven't been smart enough to question.

Atticus Finch will go down as one of my favorite literary characters. I'm going to try to remember to flip through this book again when I'm a father. I hope my kids and I have the same type of relationship he had with Scout and Jem. I also wonder if I'll ever face "that one thing" that I need to do. Hopefully I'll see it coming if I do.

Anyone have any recommendations for other classics I should put on my list? I'm trying to work up the courage to start Anna Karenina, but I'm afraid I don't have the attention span for it... Maybe I should stick with high school level classics, and then when I'm 50 I might be ready to take on Tolstoy.

Ski to Sea 2008

The Ski to Sea race was yesterday, and my leg went off without any (major) hitches. This year we had two teams, number 260 and 295. I was the Road Biker for Team 260, and Michelle was going to be one of the Canoeists, but that leg was canceled. Read all about it here.

Tommy (Road Biker for Tea 295) and I arrived at the DOT Shed (runner - road bike exchange area) at around 8 in the morning to await the hand-off from our respective runners. It was sunny and hot all morning, and we took refuge in the shade. Tommy's team arrived first, and about 15 minutes later my number got called. I took my bike and my bag and made my way to the starting gate. That's when things got interesting.

Travis, my team's runner, passed the timing chip to me; so far no problem. What I should have done was taken 15 seconds and strapped it to my bike before I took off. Instead, I put my foot in the toe cage and pushed off. Then as I tried to sit back into the saddle, I misjudged it's height and the front of the seat grabbed my bike shorts and yarded them down. Yep, I mooned the entire road bike staging area. There was an audible "oooh..." as the crowd looked away in horror. I hastily pulled my pants up, and I was off. But I wasn't out of the woods yet.

I still had the dumb timing chip in my hand, and it was a real struggle trying to attach it to my wrist one-handed as I road down the mountain. It was velcro, so of course it got stuck to itself. When I shook it to get it unstuck, it flew out of my hands. I think I hollered an obscenity and I definitely slammed on the brakes, leaving some nice skid marks on the road. I laid down my bike, ran back up the hill, and luckily found the timing chip right away. When I laid down my bike I must have knocked the chain off, but again, luckily it only took me a few seconds to put it back on. Overall I think I only lost about 5 positions - finally I had everything organized, and I could focus on racing.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, except when I almost collided with a guy handing out water. Otherwise I passed more people than passed me, and I felt good going up the hills. My overall time was 1 hour 52 minutes, which was under my goal of 2 hours, so I was happy about that. I averaged about 20 mph, and my fastest speed was 41.8 mph. There was a section where I was cruising at around 40 mph for several minutes, and I was able to brake by sitting up out of my tuck position, which was nice. The overall race results aren't working quite yet, but you can see all the details here. If they're not working yet, check back soon.

I don't have any pictures to post at the moment, but suffice it to say that a spandex bike jersey makes for mean tan lines. Yowza.

Ski to Sea Training Report #3

So I've been meaning to post a Ski to Sea Training Report after every training session, but as you can see I haven't gotten around to it. So we're starting with 3. I am doing the road bike this year - last year I did the canoe, and let's just say I wasn't the first to sign up for that leg this year. The road bike leg is the longest leg at 38.5 miles, and takes the race from deep in the mountains out to the Nooksack River, where the Canoe leg takes over.

Michelle and I started training just over a week ago (the race is two weeks away - May 29th). Our first outing I went 13 miles in about an hour and a half. Not bad, considering it was all flatland stuff, compared to the race which will trend more towards downhill. On Thursday we went out again, but only did 5 miles.

Today was the big cheese. The whole ball o' wax. I went up the mountain with our runner (leg before me), our cross country skier, and our downhill skier. They dropped me off at the exact spot where I'll take off from on race day, and I had 38.5 miles ahead of me. The first third of the race has the most downhill sections. My top speed was 34.3 mph, but there were some uphill sections, most notably just as I came into Maple Falls. It was tough enough that I needed a break, and I stopped for about 5 minutes. From there it was again mostly downhill, but less dramatic. At Kendall the race takes a sharp turn north on Kendall Road. This section was tough because it is essentially flat, and my legs were pretty weak by that point. My left calf actually started cramping mildly. The route turns west again at South Pass Road, and at this intersection I took another little snack/rest break. When I got going again I struggled up a steep but short little hill, and a few miles later came upon a more drawn out uphill climb. My legs gave out about half way up, and I paused again. I recovered enough to make my way up the hill, but it was getting tougher. I noticed on South Pass Road that the uphill climbs were more frequent and less likely to end with the relief of a downhill section and more likely to gradually give way to a flat section or slight downhill incline. No rest for weary legs. The final 3 miles into the towns of Everson and Nooksack was actually very pretty, and I got a nice rhythm going, averaging between 14 and 15 mph most of the way.

All in all I think it took me between 2 and 2 and a 1/2 hours. I finished at 1:35pm, and I think I left between 11:15 and 11:30am, but I didn't check before I took off (d'oh!). Not bad for my first outing. I think a really good time is 1.5 hours.

More later as the training rolls on!