Say goodbye to my little friend - Farewell to my first bike
Incredible BBQ at the department picnic
Listen folks: I lived in the grand state of Tejas for some years and I’ve had my fair share of quality BBQ, but these ribs were out of control. And by out of control I mean exquisitely finely crafted specimens of smoked flesh on bone. “Tony” brought sauce with him, but did NOT recommend putting it on the ribs. Don’t need it.
I got the whole spiel. 4 hours, 225 degrees, apple, oak, custom-built smoker (super burly, and huge), can tune the temp of the smoker to within 3 degrees, reaches stable temp in about 15 minutes. This guy knows his smokin’. And his ribs. I was duly impressed, and subsequently quite full.
He also brought beans, pulled pork, and slaw - all of which was excellent.
This is his restaurant/catering service - http://tokenbbq.com
holy crap I KNOW that girl! - Jill Kintner takes Olympic Bronze in BMX!
I walked into the kitchen last night right as the women’s BMX finals was about to start. Up pops the list of contestants and the American is Jill Kintner - a girl I met at RIT my freshman year! She was already world-ranked in BMX by that time, but apparently she’s made a lot of progress since then.
Zen and the Folly of Motorcycle Maintenance
The bike has been running kind of crappy recently - starting hard and getting poor milage. Since it’s pretty much the only thing I haven’t replaced recently on it, I ordered a new air filter. Took the old one out, and it was PACKED with dead bugs! Awesome! Slapped that new baby in there, and off to the next problem!
My oil level has been rising recently (not my personal oil level - although I have been eating quite a bit of greasy food lately). I wasn’t sure if I was leaking antifreeze into my oil, or what, so I drained some out into the ol’ pan to have a look. It came out really thin, but didn’t seem to have any antifreeze in it. It also smelled a lot like gas. The preliminary diagnosis is that due to a previously clogged air filter, the FI system was dumping excessive amounts of gas, and it was ending up in the oil. This is a known problem with the ‘97 TL1000S, documented here. I don’t think I have the new ECM - I should probably get it.
Either way, it rode way better this morning. I’m going to put fresh oil in (bummer, because I just filled ‘er up with primo AMSOIL) and see how it goes.
speedy gonzales…
It takes me as long to run one mile as it takes an Olympian to run more than two. So I guess I’m not that speedy. Or mexican, for that matter. Or a mouse. However, in the pre-dawn Minnesota wilderness (not wilderness) near Madison Lake this morning, after long being stuck in the high 11s and 12s for my long runs, I acheived a personal best - 11 miles in 1:53, or 10:16/mile. A very small step for mankind (actually kind of like crawling backwards), but sort of a major leap for me.
Here’s my route (the blue line) - I didn’t have my fancy schmancy gps watch with me, so I had to use a known-distance spot and do laps.
Running progress
The training continues for Reach the Beach relay in New Hampsire next month. Did 9 miles with hills last night - didn’t hit my goal time, but came close enough. Unfortunately experienced some fairly substantial chafing on the, uh, undercarridge area, which I didn’t notice until it started burning in the shower… bummer. Ever tried sustained physical activity while wearing a sweat-soaked shirt? Oh yeah, the nipples are pretty much trashed too… awesome! Didn’t want to hear that? Too bad - you came here, it’s your own fault!
Also, my shoes are starting to wear out - only on the left side though (?). The barefoot running style is wicked awesome, but I haven’t worked myself up to true barefoot running, and these Vibram suckers are taking a beating - probably more expensive on the whole than regular shoes (replace more often), but I’m never going back.
Johnny P’s Parents’ Cabin on the Lake
Last weekend John rounded up the boys for a guys weekend at the cabin up north near Alexandria. Overall it was resoundingly successful.
Highlights (click for bigger pic):
- Johnny P slaps the wine bag (and drinks out of it)
- Brandon juggles the avocados (then grills them)
- Brandon smokes the weenie
- John’s mom and dad cooked wicked awesome lunch and dinner for the whole crew
- Two boats were available for various righteous lake-related activities (the poon-ton and the ski boat)
- John’s cousin Ross slapped a cosmic buttload of bass
- During a midnight booze-cruise on the poon-ton boat, Brandon double-slaps the wine bag INTO the lake - subsequently it was retrieved and the double-slapper took a double-gulp (no pic here - circumstances were too extreme)
- After said booze-cruise, we were led first astray and later to land by a robust campfire at the water’s edge. When we left the fire was at the neighbor’s, but when we returned it was at ours, so we initially overshot home by a few cabins. We worked it out.
- Ended up hanging out IN the boat, IN the garage at the end of both nights…
- D-box got all alien
Needless to say, there wasn’t too much that could have gone better. Props to all organizers and participants!
here’s a link to the photo album - hopefully it will soon contain Joey’s pics too!
Peace Corps application reactivation
I reactivated my Peace Corps application today. I thought the application was valid for one year after last activity, but apparently it’s one year after the completed app was initially submitted. This means I need to get nominated before October 2, or I have to start all over. Hmm…
RATM will play Target Center in Minneapolis during GOP convention!
Looks like Rage will be playing the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. Tickets go on sale Saturday morning - I’m getting a buddy to try to score some for me since I’ll be camping. Anyone know if this is a BYORS (Bring Your Own Riot Shield) event, or will the 98273409238 cops there have extras, considering the result last time they played a political convention?
Hit me up if you wanna go…
UPDATE: got two presale tix. They’re seats, which sucks, but there was no GA available. Still trying to get some GA ones.
Saturday on the Boat
Took it pretty easy on Saturday - went over to Heather’s and took the boat out and cruised by the Boat Landing for some lunch (righteous burger).
