The endless? summer

I can not believe it is almost August. The summer seemed really short since the schools I work in got out on June 26 and Labor day is September 1rst. I wish summer could seem as long as it did when we all were kids. It seemed like endless hot days at the BHAC. Lazy weeks at Aunt Catherine's cottage and the adventures we had there. That is where I learned to be an expert Petosky hunter, rehabilitate tent worms (from their trials at "Death Stadium"), and knock the wind out of myself via the sand dunes.

Mike and I spent the weekend doing some real training. We rode at Harriman on Saturday which is always intense due to the huge hills (and occasionally exciting traffic). We ran on Sunday which was pretty warm and muggy. We hit Rockefeller preserve with the rest of the runners. I wanted to do a tri on Sunday in Greenwich, but luckily we sat it out. They had to make it a duathalon since there was a thunderstorm when it started. A duathlon is my idea of a nightmare. We tried to swim but we got kicked out 10 minutes into it on Sunday. They close the Y pool (indoor) for lightning. Recently they closed it thinking the weekly Playland fireworks was a storm. When we drove home, we saw the biggest lightning bolt ever, so I was glad they over-react in the Y.

This morning I got an email from the Westchester Tri. That was the race that sold out in less than 2 hours, and I emailed on got on the waiting list. I am in, but I am not sure if Mike got in. I included his name in the email. So that may cause a dilemna. I just as soon let him do it since my hour run felt pretty bad on Sunday.

This weekend, The Police in Jersey
Next weekend, Radiohead in Liberty State Park (Jersey)
Weekend after, Tri in Rhode Island
Then vacation,
Then back to serious work :(

Fitness - Recent Triathlon Deaths Have Experts Searching for Answers - NYTimes.com

Fitness - Recent Triathlon Deaths Have Experts Searching for Answers - NYTimes.com

She Likes Kielbasa - Scrubby

While Dyngus day was on my mind, here's an old ditty we all can appreciate.

Rude awakening

I was lying on the couch trying to wake up yesterday, and I put on the mindless morning news shows. They are all so dumb, but there is nothing else on and I wanted to check weather. On at least 2 channels they were showing women getting a new type of pedicure where they put there feet in water with a bunch of baby carp (I think but am not certain)to gnaw on their feet. I had to change the channel on one story, and there it was on another channel. That is so f'in gross, and I found it hard to get my coffee down. I have no idea why there was a media blitz over that. I also have no idea why I found it so gross since I can tolerate most everything (except for coughing phlegm, puking, and saying the word fluids).

Bad Moon Risin'

It has been friggin' hot and humid as of late. I noticed the last few days that the moon has been full too. I do not know if it is the heat or the full moon, but there is a great deal of tension in the air around here lately. People driving like maniacs for no reason. People seem louder than usual. I think the heat makes me slower and more quiet. The moon has been really excellent lately, full of colors with a haze around it (beauty=pollution). Tonight we got some good Peruvian food for dinner (with some bitchin' ceviche) and decided to go to Rye to walk it off and gaze at the sound. We ended watching the moon rise. I have not seen many moonrises, and this one was pretty cool. The moon was red. Hopefully the humidity will burn off so I do not feel like I am going to suffer from heat exhaustion every time I step outside. We ran this AM, and we decided it was for tolerance to the heat versus speed or performance.

The Best Nest

I do not know if anyone remembers my pictures of the 13 Robins nests in various stages of completion under our new deck. It seemed like the Robin thought, "This is great place for a nest", started building, and abandoned the project over and over again. I have noticed a Robin hanging around too much, and alas there are some chicks now. She just did not pick the nest I expected. I guess the Robin did not struggle finding the best nest which I recall as being one of my favorite early childhood books.

Dara Torres - Profile - Olympic Swimming - NYTimes.com

Dara Torres - Profile - Olympic Swimming - NYTimes.com

Tour De Jersey

Today we raced, helped out Mike's sister, hung out with Mike's family for dinner, dropped off Mike's sister and drove home. We left the house at 5:30 AM, and did not get back until 9:20. Here is a summary of our day of driving which I coined, "Tour De Jersey".

PURCHASE, NY 10577
RANDOLPH, NJ
Distance: 63.2 miles, Time: 1 hours 15 mins

Point Maneuver Distance Cumulative Action
RANDOLPH, NJ
WHARTON, NJ 07885
Distance: 5.8 miles, Time: 18 mins

Point Maneuver Distance Cumulative Action
WHARTON, NJ 07885
LITTLE FERRY, NJ
Distance: 34.2 miles, Time: 39 mins

Point Maneuver Distance Cumulative Action
LITTLE FERRY, NJ
ORADELL, NJ
Distance: 10.5 miles, Time: 18 mins

Point Maneuver Distance Cumulative Action
ORADELL, NJ
DUMONT, NJ
Distance: 2.8 miles, Time: 10 mins

Point Maneuver Distance Cumulative Action
DUMONT, NJ
WHARTON, NJ 07885
Distance: 38.6 miles, Time: 50 mins


Point Maneuver Distance Cumulative Action
WHARTON, NJ 07885
PURCHASE, NY 10577
Distance: 62.8 miles, Time: 1 hours 9 mins

Total Distance: 218 miles, Total Time: 4 hours 39 mins (approx.)

A reason to stick to the Great Lakes

Great white shark reported at 'Jaws' filming site - Yahoo! News
I thought K+A would appreciate this.

Noise Pollution

I swear whenever I am outside in my neighborhood during the day(or out visiting client's homes), I am bombarded by the deafening drone of massive lawnmowers and leaf blowers. There are towns nearby that have a leaf blower ban over the summer months, and I think it is a good idea. What seems to always happen is that the minute it gets nice and I take a kid outside, I can not hear a damn thing. I guess I am really getting old! This morning they were fired up outside my window at 8:10 AM. I think that is obnoxious to say the least.

Mike just informed me the financial world is crashing! If Freddie and Fannie fail, we may never get a mortgage. Oh well, at least we are saving money for a distant rainy day. I just suggested that we rent a sweet mansion and blow our down payment. There seems to be plenty that are not selling around here.

On a totally unrelated note, have you seen the ad for Nuvaring? It is a birth control method. The ad features a bunch of synchro swimming cartoon characters (who mimic birth control pills). They are wearing old school swim suits with caps. The thing that strikes me is that some of the swimmers break away (rip off the conservative suits, shake their long sexy librarian hair out of the swim caps, and walk over to a hot tub with other liberated swimmers who use nuvaring). All the cartoon women that break away are wearing some slutty bikinis and one piece number. The message that I gleaned from the ad was that the nuvaring is for hoochie mommas. Is it just me?

We are racing this weekend in NJ. It is just a short sprint, but I swear my body has not recovered from last weekend. I suppose it is the fact that I do not rest at work and began working with some big and difficult to handle clients again this week. No excuses though. I recall the bike is hilly, and the run ends on a trail so W has the edge. My goal is to finish the trail section without a spill. The other funny thing about the race is that it is going "Green" this year. They had you offset your carbon footprint and are encouraging carpools this year. Wow, I am so eco-conscious that I am driving about 50 miles to race! I suppose we should stick to local races to save the planet.

Our Towns - Build a Wiffle Ball Field and Lawyers Will Come - NYTimes.com

Our Towns - Build a Wiffle Ball Field and Lawyers Will Come - NYTimes.com

Still married

6 years and counting. That went really fast.

Breakin' Turbo Broom Dance

This one's for Pat.

Upstate Update

We were really spontaneous this week. We packed the car and headed north on Tues night without a real plan. We were prepared to cross over the Vermont if need be or even Montreal. We were ready to hike, bike, read, and play guitar.

We headed up the thruway and went mountain biking the first day. We stopped at the ADK (Adirondack Mountain Club) info center for hike and bike recommendations. The trail was a dirt road for the first few miles, and then there was a snowmobile trail that was in nice shape. We have not been mountain biking much since we moved out here. The riding is very rocky and technical, and my forearms can not take it. I may be the only mountain biker who gets more sore in the upper body after riding (as Brian and KC can attest). I like to get dirty and work up the hills the most. We also tried out our new pedals and shoes (proud of us finally doing on the mountain bikes Brian?). I of course had a low speed tip over with my feet clipped in. That is the first set of scratches I got for the day. I did not know what I was in for! We discovered that whenever we would stop, the black flies would swarm me (and a few deer flies to boot). I was just covered with them, and Mike was not getting attacked to the same degree as I was. I suppose I can thank genetics for that (Caraher trait). I would scratch my head and was greeted by dried blood and bug carcass. Mike kept singing, "My wife has fleas". Mike thinks that my jersey was attracting the bugs since it was blue like a flower. We continued since it was OK as long as we were moving and the woods were cool and beautiful. Then the unthinkable....I got a flat! Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!
Let me just say here that Mike is officially my hero. I tried to get the bike pump going, but I was getting swarmed so bad I was trying to work the pump with my ear on my shoulder and doing a spastic dance. He sent me for the car and I left fear behind and tore down the rest of the trail. I guess I need proper motivation. He sent me since he was not getting bit like I was, but I felt bad about it since it was my bike that pooped out.

We headed up to stay in Saranac Lake which is 10 miles down the road from Lake Placid. The guidebook said that it was less touristy so we chose to stay there. We stayed in an old hotel, and we kept running into a local dude who worked there. We then discovered that the town was on the rough side from him. The hotel was old and historic, but good. The town did kinda suck though. We looked for a bite to eat, and there were 4 pizza joints and 1 Chinese restaurant. I am not kidding about the pizza. We settled on one, and ordered. The guy kept coming back and asking us what we had. He forgot our salads (the place was not crowded by the way). He brought me a burger when I ordered a chicken sandwich (twice). I was going to be a good sport and just eat the burger, but it was almost raw. So I tracked him down and also told him we never got salad (I was starving by then). He then told us some weird story about our salads getting stolen and how that happens around there. We decided to eat in Lake Placid the next night!

The next day was rainy, and we ended up doing a road ride in the evening when it was clearing up. We checked out Lake Placid too. We picked up some new sports when we were in Lake Placid.

We moutain biked again the next morning, and we had a black fly bailout plan. The trail was fine for bugs and the ride was beautiful. It was a rail trail through wetlands and forest. We saw several beaver dams along the ride. We also got a hike in (Poke o' Moonshine mountain) that had an amazing view and fire tower on the top. We could see Burlington, Vermont and Lake Champlaign from up there. The descent did not agree with my knees. I need to bring poles up there!

We drove down to Lake George on the 4rth, and we watched the town fireworks from our dinner table outside. The place was a zoo and the traffic would not clear out of town. It took us an hour to drive 2 miles, and we waited an hour and 15 minutes to leave after the show. Lake George attracts a rough crowd so we did not want to hang out too late. Sat we hiked on the Tongue mountain range. It was really hot, and we ran into a couple on the trail who had a close encounter with a Eastern Timber rattlesnake (the guidebook we had said they are rare and seeing one would be a "treat". We saw a picture of it, and it was 2 feet long! We stayed in Bolton Landing last night, and today we were too sore to run, bike, or hike. We kayaked and read books before heading home.