Bike Repair

When N got his cool new BMX bike, I was dreading assembling the thing because not only did he want it ready immediately, but I am not that well versed in putting bikes together. Fortunately, they shipped the thing pretty much ready to go. All I had to do was put the front tire on, hook the brakes up, and he was ready to rock and roll.

The only problem was, I wasn’t completely clear on how the brakes worked. I followed the instructions but brake cables can be a little touchy, and they weren’t working perfectly. Sure, the bike was functional, just not perfect. To his credit, N never complained, he rarely does, but it was apparent that something wasn’t right. Being the trooper that he is, and a cute one to boot, he tried to adjust the brakes on his own, but that didn’t resolve the problem, and may have made things a little worse. I didn’t say anything, but clearly something had to be done.

I took the bike over to Paradise Sports and they did some quick adjustments. I figured brakes would be a piece of cake for these guys, they’re pros, and it was, though it was more involved than I thought it was be because I really screwed things up when I assembled the thing. They got the brakes done, lubed up the necessary parts, and had it ready to roll in no time. Now the brakes work beautifully, the bike runs like a charm, and everyone is happy. What more can a person ask for?

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Running (amd watching) Under the Blazing Sun

Last weekend A had her first summer track meet way up Essex Junction, which is around Burlington. I know I’m a whiner, but it was a brutal day, and I’m not sure how many more of these track meets I can handle. First off, it’s about a two hour drive up there, and the meet started at 9:30. This meant leaving around 7:30. We lucked out with the weather in the early part of the day, because it was threatening rain (what else is new?), and the cloud cover kept it cool.

I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a track meet, but they’re long. I’ve been to several of A’s, and they last up to 4 hours. Those meets, however, pale in comparison to this one, which must have lasted about 7 hours, I kid you not. It must have been around 4:00PM when it was finally done, I couldn’t believe it. To make it all the more aggravating, your child’s events happen once or twice during this time, so you’re stuck watching all these events that you have only a passing interest in. Sure, it’s fun to watch, but 7 hours? Come on!

Part of the problem with this meet was that it included 7-8 year old kids, which is sort of ridiculous. Do kids that age really need to run a 100 meter dash? It’s like going a mile for these kids, and they’re way too young. At least with A’s usual meets, the kids are 12-14 years old, which is reasonable. Then again, in the ultra competitive world that we live in, it’s never too early to get your kid on track to be a champion. In that sense, with all sports, you have to get them started early if you have any chance at that Ivy League scholarship.

On a bright note, A did well in her events. She’s a speedster.

The day was long, I have to confess. To N’s credit, he sat through the whole meet and didn’t complain once... well, maybe once, but that was perfectly understandable. The weather was nice, the sun eventually came out and it was hot, but we had sun protection, and packed plenty of water and fruit/snacks. Plus, the snack shed had burgers and hot dogs, so N could eat. Another problem is that A runs in one of the final events, so we were there for the long haul.

By evening time, we were ready to roll. The original plan was to go to Burlington for supper, but that would have meant driving further north, and by that time, the only direction we wanted to go was south, toward home. We stopped instead in Montpelier and ate Thai food, which was killer. We then had gelato, then headed back home. It’s a good plan to stop midway from Burlington because it’s such a long drive. It’s more bearable in one hour increments.

The final piece of the puzzle was that we had to feed our friend’s cats and water her plants. We were exhausted, but duty called. We stopped on the way home, took care of business, and finally walked in the door at home around 8:00PM. Talk about a brutal day, I never want to do that again, at least until the next track meet.

I will say this, spending all day at the track makes hockey season look like a piece of cake. At least with hockey, the game is done within an hour and then you can go home. I’ll take it.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Adventurous Black Kid! for the pic.

Protecting the Birds

I didn’t realize this, though in retrospect I should have, but in early spring, the baby birds begin to mature, and that’s when they’re the most vulnerable to predators, particularly trained killers like our cats. I completely understand why bird lovers hate cats, they are just way too efficient at killing birds, like a kid in a candy store. Unfortunately, when they kill the spring nesting birds, it destroys entire generations, especially when they’re so helpless.

Apparently, after they hatch, they develop to a stage where they are almost ready to be on their own, but not quite. For whatever reason, they leave the safety of their nest and strike out on their own, sort of. The parents still feed them, but they can barely fly, and end up hopping around on the ground, where they are sitting ducks to predators. Not such a great evolutionary adaptation, if you ask me.

The other day the cats got to a nest, and there were two babies hopping around the grass while the parents were frantically trying to save them. I snatched the babies up and tried to keep them safe, but they understandably were terrified of me, as well, and consequently kept running away. Meanwhile, our cats were sitting in the grass, just waiting to pounce and destroy. R came out and the kids pitched in, and we managed to get the cats inside the house. We then searched for the nest, to no avail. They would have jumped out, anyway, so we put them in a big box, and then left the box in a tree. One of the babies jumped out and ran away, but one stayed put, and perched himself on the edge of the box, as if he were ready to take off. As I mentioned, they were on the verge of being able to fly. Mom and dad were nearby, wary of us, but keeping track of their chick.

A few hours later, I checked on the box, and everyone was gone, including the parents, which I took to mean that they’d moved on with their lives. I sure hope so, because with cats like ours, they have no chance. In the meantime, we’re keeping our cats inside until the critical period is over and the birds can at least have a chance at survival. They aren’t happy, and are going a little crazy, but such is life. Our friend, W, does the same with her cats, and she’s a native who knows all about life in the wilds of New England, so we’re on the right track.

Then we learned that the birds nest twice in the summer, so we may have to do this all over again. Boy, life in the country sure ain’t easy.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Mary for the pic.

Market Report

We did our fifth market last week, and I have to confess, I was not so thrilled about the whole prospect. I think even R was a little in my camp, and she’s usually pretty gung ho. First off, the weather has been crazy. Not only have we been soaked with rain, but our driveway got washed out a bit, and there was some question as to how the day was going to be. Either torrential rain or stifling heat, no in between. It makes for a terrible market because nobody shows up and we have to suffer through the elements. I know, whine, whine, whine.

The forecast called for heavy thunder storms, so we had it in our minds that we weren’t going to go, which made us sort of happy. That’s a telling sign right there, isn’t it? The rain, however, never materialized, and the sun came out. We reluctantly packed up the car and headed into the big city, more out of a sense of obligation to follow through on something you’ve started, but man was it hot. As a consequence, business was sparse, as it’s been all season. Somehow farmer’s markets are just not that popular, and I remember talking to someone in the early stages about how she thought this area was going to experience farmer’s market fatique. Whatever the reason, turnout has been disappointing, to say the least. You could simply say that people aren’t buying our food, and I can agree with that, but on the whole, there are less people coming to the market, no doubt. The other vendors concur.

In the end, we did okay, but at some point, you begin to wonder if it’s all worth the time, effort, and anquish. It’s a lot of work, but you hold onto the hope that things will pick up, if we could just get a break with the weather.

Then again, maybe some things just weren’t meant to be. Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Brian Gurrola for the pic.

The Things We Do For Love (i.e., our kids)

We had this plan all laid out and my life would have been so much simpler if I had just left things alone, but I had to go and alter things and make my life crazy, all in the name of fun. What was I thinking?

We went to open stick at the ice rink the other day and there was a great showing of N’s teammates. We had a blast on the ice, and it’s nice for N to hang with his own buddies for a change, as opposed to A’s friends, who are all very nice, but happen to all be girls. Go figure. It’s a great way for him to see his friends and future teammates, so the more the merrier. The next time the opportunity arrived, of course I was going to bend over backwards to make it happen.

The only problem was, we had so many other things we needed to do, and it was looking like I wasn’t going to be able to take him over there. Total bummer. A had guitar in the big city, and then I had a library board meeting in the afternoon. Then A had track practice, so I was locked up. Just for good measure, we are watching three of our friend’s cats, one of which is on it’s last leg, but more on that later.

I wasn’t going to just give up, so I tried contacting N’s buddies to see if one of them would take him for the day and then give him a ride over to the ice. I inquired with several of them but they were either out of town or in the process of leaving town, so they weren’t going to make it. The big thorn in my side was this board meeting. If I didn’t have to go, then we were in business, because I could take A to her friends house where she could hitch a ride to track. Then I could take N myself to the ice and we could skate, and then afterward get A at the end of her practice.

Oh yeah, one more big complication was that I was cooking the falafels for the market, which eats up about 3 hours of time. Anyway, we hatched up a plan, which would have made my life easier, but complicated R’s day. She had to head off to work, so I would stay at home and cook falafels, and then I would take the kids to the big city for A’s guitar lesson. After the lesson, R would meet us and take N with her, and I would take A with me straight to my board meeting, where she could entertain herself with books and computers. Guess which one she would prefer?

After my meeting, I would take A home, prepare some supper, and then take her to track, during which I could go home and finish supper. Meanwhile, R would take N with her to work, and then in the afternoon, drive him over to open stick. She could hang out while he played. This would have worked out perfectly, except that I think N would have had more fun going to the ice with his friends, not that he doesn’t adore his mom’s company. One of our friends, the other Gs, actually got back to me and said they were going to the ice, and that N could come over and play before they went. They were going swimming and he could hang for the day. Woo-hoo! N was stoked about the idea, as was I. I called R and told her of our new plan.

The only problem was, it completely threw a wrench in my day, because I was right in the middle of cooking falafels. TG told me they were heading over to swim right after lunch and to bring N over anytime, the sooner the better. Of course I panicked and dropped everything and packed N’s swim and hockey gear. I drove over and chatted with JG for a bit, then left N with them and headed back home. I told A that she should be ready to roll when I got there, and once I got home, we headed to the big city for her lesson, forgetting her guitar in the process. Fortunately, her lesson is in a guitar store, so there plenty of options hanging on the walls.

After her lesson, we immediately headed to my meeting, stopping first at home to bring in the laundry because there was a threat of rain, which is business as usual around here these days. The meeting lasted about 1.5 hours. For the record, we got a lot done thanks to the diligence of the other board members. It was a good meeting, if there is such a thing. I then gathered up A and went home to get her track stuff, where we saw that R had come home early. This was a great development, because I had continue making supper, and then I had to get N at the rink. R took A to her practice, then came home and finished some of the dinner prep while I went to get N. I stopped at the rec center en route to get him a pair of lacrosse shorts (the only kind he’s wear), but that, too, is another story.

I always love going to the rink, and it’s nice to see friends there, not to mention the fact that it’s nice and cool inside. I thanked the G’s profusely, they really saved the day, and then had to head out to get A at her practice. It had started raining and figured her practice might have been canceled, but no such luck. We arrived just at the practice had ended, so our timing was perfect. She was hanging with her buddies from hockey, whereupon I asked one of the moms if A could hang with them later in the week so N and I could go to... you guessed it, the ice rink. They were more than happy to have her, so we have a tentative plan.

Now if this were the end of our day, I would say it was crazy and full, but it was far from over. We still had two sets of cats to feed, not to mention supper and falafels. Fortunately, we divided and conquered. R went to the Ps to take care of their cat and water the plants, while A&N biked over to our neighbors to feed their cat and fish. Meanwhile, I finished making supper, which was fish tacos. I had to broil the fish. R had done the rest, and N cooks the tortillas because he loves to do it.

We had a feast, we were starving. Plus, it was on the late side since we had so many things we had to do. After, R cleaned up and the kids watched a movie while I slaved away over a hot stove cooking falafels. It was pretty brutal, and it was after 10:30PM when I had finally finished. Normally I would have been done by lunchtime, but as I mentioned, our plans changed and I had to adapt. At least I got it done, and now we are ready (sort of) for the market.

All in all, it was quite the day, but we accomplished what we needed to do and the kids had fun, and that’s the most important thing. I’m glad it worked out, but man were we tired.

Then again, if you’re not tired by the end of the day, then you’re clearly not doing enough, right? If I had to do it all over again, I’d do the same, except that I’d probably tell the library board that I couldn’t make the meeting, I have more important things to attend to.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Doug Wheller for the pic.

Crossing Paths

In light of the recent tragedy that has befallen our friend CH and his family, I’ve been (fairly) diligently making meals for them and taking them over to their house. Real man’s food, of course. Every Friday we take over some sort of main course dish, with some side like a salad, and of course, a 6-pack of beer. Good beer, too, the kind my Mentor would approve of like Long Trail or Harpoon. I’ve been leaving the food in a big cardboard box.

The whole process has had a mysterious quality to it because I was dropping the food off and wasn’t even sure if they were getting it, much less eating it. I didn’t want to bother them so I would just leave the box on their front door and leave. I don’t know how to contact them, they don’t have phone service, and CH doesn’t do email. I figured as long as nobody was complaining, I’d keep doing it.

Well, the other day, I went over and his son HH was sitting on the front porch, and I had a chance to chat with him. He’s a full blown teenager, so he wasn’t interested in engaging with a boring adult, but CH has great kids, and he was courteous and friendly. He even thanked me for the food, which I took to mean that at least they were getting it, maybe even eating it. He also gave me a hug, which I thought was really touching. Again, what great kids.

Anyway, we were on our way to the big city to meet mom for dinner and a movie, and who should we see at the theater but CH’s other kids. His two girls were out seeing Monsters U, and we got there late so we scrambled to get the kids seats. It was dark, and we found two seats right in front of CH’s girls. They said hi and all that good stuff, and afterward A&N told us that they said thank you for all the food.

Isn’t it crazy how the world works? Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to jiwoong lee for the pic.

Website Revitalization

In light of my change in writing direction, I felt like I needed to revamp my website to make it more professional and less fun and whimsical. As you can imagine, this bummed me out, because I kind of like my website. To make the big bucks, however, you can’t mess around, so I decided to look into changing things. My first thought was to revamp my site, which would have been a bit of a chore, but not impossible. I also thought of converting it to WordPress, which is a more sophisticated platform. This meant learning a new program, and time and anguish, not to mention procrastination of monstrous proportions.

After toiling away at learning the program and failing miserably, I finally decided that the better way to go was to simply create an entirely new domain name and website. This would allow me to keep my site, which I’m fond of , and I can simply use my old program to create the new site. Everybody wins. In the meantime I can practice WordPress and get to know it, maybe even consult with a friend, but also get it up and running using iWeb.

Creating a new website from scratch isn’t easy, and I’m not even talking about creating the nuts and bolts. If anything, that’s the easier (not easy) part. The real challenge for me is in the aesthetics: how it’s going to look, colors, and layout. The fact that it needs to be professional makes it a little more straightforward, but still not easy. Also, I want it to be witty, not stiff, but not too witty such that potential clients won’t take me too seriously. Like life, it’s a balancing act.

The question then becomes, why do I get myself into these situations? As they say, with greater challenge comes greater reward, right? How much reward does a guy need?

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Mal for the pic.