Bases are loaded and Casey's at bat, playin' it play by play ...

Made the 7:40 today in one "Dear Mister Fantasy". New tires are ... different. They seem to roll kind of lopsided but hey they are new and black and shinny. Need to get a presta valve pressure gauge since I have no idea how much air I put in them. More air is probably preferred here as they are meant to ride on the flat part down the middle. Unless it rains, then more traction is the right choice.

It's Friday which means that I get a second crack at the IAC Valve tomorrow. I have a plan but it includes removal of the throttle body and I am unsure of how to accomplish that. I mean I can unscrew it but it won't budge. Any suggestions?

Just watched a dude who was too rapt in his laptop to realize that it was his stop until it was almost too late. He got up and ran for the door and dropped something, went back, got it as the door closing bell rang and dashed out as the doors closed. Whew!

iPhone says, "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" by Billy Joel

"Brend-er and Eddie were the popular steady and the king and the queen of the prom."

Takin my time, choosing my line, trying to decide what to do ...

Brevity.

(Sorry, I had to do that.) I need to boil down the information to 3 bullets and a simple chart.
1. I am not the best at boiling stuff down, I like lots of numbers.
2. Accuracy over simplicity
3. Fear of being incorrect in my simple form.

Now imagine a diagonal line chart, with a line going up and right, where the X axis says, "increasing simplicity" and the y axis says,"increasing discomfort". Huh. That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

Ok, so I just got a call from Jackson. He is the proud owner of $50 courtesy of Klutz Press. I kid you not. He was part of a ballon animal making session and of course is so cute that he got a picuter taken. We got a release to let them use the picture and a stipend of 50 clams if they do. And, BAM, today he gets a check in the mail and it's off to Wells Fargo with him. He now has a bank card, a passbook and the number of a personal banker. Amelia is setup too so now we have to fiscally responsible people at least as far as they are concerned.

iPhone says, "One More Saturday Night" by the Grateful Dead

"Dont worry 'bout it Georgie you know just what to do. Crank up that old Victrolla, put on your rockin' shoes."

Taking the afternoon off from blogging see you tomorrow

I wake up inthe morning' to the alarm clock's warnin', take the 8:15 into the city ...

Actually I got up late with no alarm and helped get the family out before my shower. I realized I wouldn't make the 8:10 train and settled on the fact that it would be the 8:25 today. Made the bed, got dressed, made sure I had everything, put on "Who Are You" and set off. About half way there I realized that in low gear (3 and 6) I was not feeling it as bad as previously. Pushed through the final hill and came around the corner at Tasman to see the 8:10 not yet at the platform. I waved to the driver, got in, put my bike up and realized the The Who were nowhere near done. Looked at the time of the song and I had made it, door-to-door, in 4:50. A much better time than my original 7:30. Granted the train was 2 minutes late but hey I made it due to my physical prowess.

Yesterday was a good day, today will be better.

iPhone says, "White Man in the Hammersmith Palais" by The Clash.

"Why not phone up, Robin Hood, and ask him for some wealth distribution."

I'm never alone, I'm alone all the time ...

Late evening commute thanks to one of my coworkers who is leaving for newer, not neccesarialy greener, fields in SF. I get to ride in total darkness from Reamwood (he he I said ream) all the way down the creek, home. It's going to be interesting because the last time I did it in almost darkness something ran across my path into the bushes. This morning I scared a cat up onto the concrete barrier. A jump of over 8 feet. It then tried to run away from me down the top of the barrier. Something it was woefully unprepared to do. I am amazed at how he ...

Wait something is happening I had to exit the train at civic center because this is where it ends. Ah crap, I have to wait 17 minutes fir the next one. Ah well chalk it up to I have no clue what I am doing. Ah here comes one to Alum Rock at least I won't get on it. I did get to see them separate the cars so I bet I'll be on my first single car VTA light rail train in just under 7 minutes. Man, time flies when you're blogging.

iPhone says, "Dreaming if You" by The Coral

"In my lonely room, when I'm dreaming of you, oh what can I do?"

You're so f***in' special, I wish I was special ...

False alarm on Penelope. She was OK on Sunday but went back to not OK on Monday. I still need to pull the IAC and clean it. Ah the life of a one car family. 4 cycles on the train today makes for a very crowded bike car.

It is strange to me that I haven't been feeling talkative in the morning but it's been very hard to think of anything recently. Oh here's something, I weighed 206.5 on the home scale this morning compared to the 212 it told me late last week and well under the 218 I was measured at my doctors appt for my back in January. If true, I am half way to my goal of 195 which would put my BMI at 25 again. So maybe there's something to this daily exercise thing. ;)

Oh and yesterday's penny is attached to the bulletin board at home where I can see it ev'ry day.

iPhone says, "Another Drinking Song" by The Mighty Mighty BossTones

"Gonna dive into a dive I've dove into before."

A pile of pennys ...

when I got to the platform this afternoon I parked, took off my helmet, and tied a loose shoelace. As I stood up, I noticed a pile of pennys sitting on the base of a lamp post about waist high 5 feet away. I thought for a while and decided to take one. They were probably put there by someone just trying to get them out of his slouching jeans. But I decided to see a kind stranger piling pennys at every rail stop. Like the guy who brings cognac to Edgar Allen Poe each year in that small Baltimore graveyard that eveyome points out as you head home from an O's game. So back to the pennys. I need a fresh start, monitarially speaking, so one lucky penny would be a good start. No need to me greedy just a little something to jump start my future.

I went back to waiting and about 2 minutes later noticed a penny at my feet. Again the image of a smart aleck street urchin passed my mind. But that too was replaced with something more .. profound. The pennys were congratulating me on my kindness and insight into what the pennys really mean. But there was a third, a fourth, and yes a fifth OTHER penny splayed on the ground. These belong to me, I thought and scooped each one from the semi-wet platform. But once in my hand I knew that was wrong. Ah ha the pennys are testing my moral fiber. So I carefully took them to their brethre/sisteren and stacked them proudly along side as if to say, "I was here and I know you, weary VTA rider, might need a penny too".

If you need one take one (but only one) if you've got one give one (but as many more than one as you can spare.)

iPhone says, "I Fought the Law" the Green Day version of the Clash version of the Eddie Cochran classic.

"Robbing people with a ... six-gun. I fought the law and the law won."