James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
LOL. You guys are hilarious. Obviously, you've never had kids or dogs who like to have fun with the toilet paper. It's much easier to unroll a toilet paper when it's over the top.

I imagine cats would do that too? I won't take offense to you calling me a SAVAGE! :)
I never considered this angle as potty training twin girls has lead to many a square being wasted due to the ease of unrolling.

That being said, I am a top/front roll person and maybe flip a roll of TP 75% and Paper towels 100% of the time.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Going to post this memory I got from Facebook today. It made me laugh again. This was posted on the God Facebook page:

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@JDurk - For me - summer, winter, all seasons - I still eat, soil my undergarments, and shit. So I'm going to allow it. Objection overruled.

@jmanic - ok fair enough. I am not sure we got our signals crossed, more that it probably went like this:

You: Ok so fuck The Tunnel, watch The Bridge
Me: Tunnel, ok got it.
You: No no, watch The Bridge
Me: Fuck The Bridge. On it
You: Nononononono. Watch....ok never mind

Sort of like this:



@stb222 - ok I think I knew the STB part before but the 222 part sounds new. Interesting and thanks for the share. I think we were on 222 recently. Maybe on the trip back from Virginia when we rode that park you grew up riding. For me, growing up on the PA/NJ border, west (Allentown) was sort of the direction you went to become a hillbilly and live a life of non-fulfillment. East was the direction the civilized world lived in. I had no idea there was any scene at all there, aside from WZZO. As for Zwift/etc, it's not a dangling carrot because a) IDGAF what other people think and b) I'm not trying to convince anyone they should do it. So the bait never gets taken.

@MissJR - maybe to a point, but Iggy gets it wrong like every time. In truth I'm pretty sure he actually does it on purpose and when he gets it right, it really means he got it wrong. My phone literally autocorrects well to we'll 100% of the time. I mean, who the F says, "It was going we'll"?

@rick81721 - not sure about you but I try to wipe my ass before I stick my fingers up there. I mean, at least the first grab should be relatively clean unless you need to pull it out. I'm getting old and all but I have never had that happen.

@seanrunnette and @fidodie and I did a podcast today and honestly we need to have a timer or something. We hit 2:05 and I am pretty sure we could still be talking. You guys will need to let us know if we didn't let Pat talk enough. He's too modest. Overall I enjoyed him as a guest. We may have to have him on more often. I brought chocolate chip banana bread & fresh peaches to the house because I was being guest-hospitable. But then nobody ate it. I left it there. This podcast was my Thing I Did When Not Training today.

But I did ride, and I worked. Since I blew my whole morning going up to Sean's I needed to ride while working. This is what I came up with:

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@seanrunnette and @Magic (Ok fuck it, I've changed his name) think I should buy the Wahoo Desk but I think this is perfectly fine. I literally worked the whole time, moving dev code from the shitty consultants to the Duke test environment. On the days where I just want to spin easy but need to work and I'm tight on time, this is perfect. Any kind of effort won't be realistic because position & sweat and whatnot. But for light days, this is a total win.

On the topic of shitty consultants, I got 1 of them ejected today. Can't take it anymore. I took his parachute though.

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I hate rest weeks. I am getting so antsy and I feel like I am gaining a pound an hour. But I am trying to stick to this self-induced plan in an effort to create a finely tuned cyclocross killing machine. Ok well, how about a dull potato peeler? I'll take what I can get. I'm just trying to be good.

But I really do need to do something. Due to boss' orders, I will be done for the week at around noon tomorrow. I will have 5 hours free to do anything I want. I may just go for an easy 3 hour road ride because I need to do something. I'm getting pent up. Who wants to ride Friday afternoon? Maybe I'll go cruise around Six Mile. Open to suggestions.

Still working out the weekend plans. Basic outline is that we are leaving NJ Saturday morning and returning Sunday night(ish). We need to meet D's dad Sunday morning and hand over the boys, who will be up in Canada for the next 2 weeks. We plan to ride Gurney Lane with the kids Saturday but we have no plans for Sunday. We're trying to figure out what to to Sunday on the way back. Just reached out to @2Julianas and @MurderBort to see what they are up to.

Someone find us something stoke-worthy to ride between Plattsburgh, NY and home.

Update since the above was written:
* Friday afternoon Six Mile
* Saturday Gurney Lane
* Sunday Taconic 909

You are all welcome to join us for any/all of these.

Finished my first e-book yesterday, Infinite, by Jeremy Robinson. I think @jShort would like this, so I would add this to your list. It's an interesting discussion and does have some solid narrative discourse. As the book goes on it gets a little trite, then you realize this was by design and it traps you into the meaning of the title. I enjoyed it, legit SciFi but with a very current narrative. This is not your grandpa's Science Fiction, eg Isaac Asimov.

This may also be the book that turned the corner from being a non-eReader to an eReader. Not sure what I think of that. He says, as he picks up his 4 pound, 900 page Cryptonomicon. I have also bought the first of the MurderBot series, which is the foundation for Mark's new username.

BTW forgot to wish @JimN a happy birthday yesterday. So I would like to say happy birthday -1, or +364, whichever you prefer.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
It's Friday night and there's nothing going on, and that's a good thing. Normally I wouldn't write a blog on a Friday night but I'm just sitting here, sort of half-awake, by myself. D is out dress shopping with a friend, which she needs to squeeze into whatever timeframe she can, as our free days are quite limited between now and the big day. I was reading earlier, but I started to nod off, and going to sleep at 8pm is a recipe to be up and wide awake at 1am. So I got up to take a break from reading to make one of these. I'm still tired though. Maybe I need a cup of tea.

Today is day 5 of the rest week and as I mentioned earlier, my work day ended at noon so I picked up and went to Six Mile for an easy ride. I always struggle with every part of rest week and today was no different. I aimed for a light pace, and by the numbers I did that. But everything felt harder than it's supposed to. The heat didn't help, as it was flat-out gross today. Between end-of-rest-week sluggishness I usually get, and the heat, it was pretty much a blah ride.

I just took a look at the Friel rest week and he says by Friday of this week, you should be well-rested and ready to roll again. I find that the longer I go the more I start to devolve into a cave slug. Today was the epitome of that. I may consider the 2-on/1-off routine, where the 1-off is just like 3-4 days. I have never been "good" at rest weeks but it may just be the case that I'm ok with 3 days easy/off and then I can roll into hard riding again. There's also something to be said about the approach where you don't take rest weeks, so much as you rest in proportion to your training load days. So if you go hard 3, you go easy 2, and so on.

I'll figure it out. Just that Six Mile wasn't that fun today. I listened to the Dan Carlin Hardcore History #62: Supernova in the East. It's about Japan & the lead-in to WWII. So far it's good. Since nobody took me up on the offer to ride, I enclosed myself into the audio realm.

What I was reading on the couch was Cryptonomicon, which has passed the 100 page mark now. I will say this is a fascinating book as it is a slow read, in that you can't breeze over the words and get the bookfeel that the author intends. So this is going to be a really long 900 page book. I imagine it's entirely possible this takes me through the end of the year to read, and I will read any number of other books at the same time. I am enjoying it, but at 100+ of 900+, it has not yet engaged me enough to delve into it entirely. So I am just trying to read 10 or so pages a day.

Random note, I have been thinking about how I want to reread the Robot and Foundation books again soon.

I intended to watch a movie tonight but by the time D gets home, that ship may have sailed. Again, this is ok because I'm tired and we're in for a long day tomorrow. Before I discuss movies, this is what our day is shaping up to be:

7:00 - probably wake up and pack
8:30 - leave the house to get the boys, grab gas & coffee on the way
9:00 - pick up the boys from their dad's house
12:15 - get to the Queensbury area, eat lunch somewhere
1:00 - ride Gurney Lane
2:30 - jump in that pool that's at the end of the ride, $5 a person to get in
4:00 - maybe see what @fidodie and @mattybfat are up to, as they are both up in the area
--After this, who knows. But figure along these lines:
6:00-7:00 - eat dinner somewhere
8:00-9:00 - get to hotel in Plattsburgh

Here are the movies I wrote down in my notebook last time I was in a plane:
  • Darkest Hour
  • Bladerunner 2049
  • Red Sparrow
  • The Post (@jmanic)
  • Shape of Water (is this any good?)
  • Battle of the Sexes
  • Bllindspotting (I think this is an Oakland filmmaker I read an article on)
  • Ant Man (based on our SF trip)
Ok that is all I have. The lethargy that has plagued my day continues to do so. I think my allergies are back up again right now, and a quick check does confirm that today was "moderate" - whatever that means. The boys have been a little congested and flat this week too, so I think the end-of-summer season is upon us. Spring was a lot better for me this year. So I guess I am getting the kidney punch as the summer winds down.

With that, I shall make some tea and read the NYTimes. Have a great weekend, and do something noteworthy for yourself!
 

jShort

2018 Fantasy Football Toilet Bowl Lead Technician
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Blade runner was cool.

Red Sparrow sucked. (I read the books and of course the movie is going to suck, but in this case it really did. The books we're pretty good though)
 

jmanic

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
Staff member
JORBA.ORG
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I too did not dig the Blade Runner, I think I watched it in 3 installments.
However if you are full on Runner geek, it's probably awesome.

Shape of Water- yes, is good.

And remember- I suggested The Post, so don't blame me when you decide to watch Costner in The Postman.
Not my fault.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Another weekend in the books! We're going to do a primarily photo blog because it's Sunday night and my weekend is running close to E.

Saturday morning pick up the boys from their dad's house and drive north, with a whole lotta bikes.

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After a quick lunch at Panera, we drove up the road and hit up Gurney Lane, which is a great little park in Queensbury, NY. We were here 2 years ago when we met D's parents with the boys and since then the park has gotten even better. Zac really enjoyed the park and you can see him enjoying this sport more and more as he gets older. The best thing to see here is when we did 1 of the downhill runs he asked if we could go back up and do it again. So we did!

My camera really blows. I missed the first pass and almost missed the second.

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Simon ran out of steam after 40 minutes, so D took him to the pool and Zac & I went out to do much of the rest of the park. We eventually joined them when Zac more or less exploded 20 minutes later. He was able to climb a really tough, rocky section. Then he announced he was about done. I see a lot of good things coming in the future with him and the bike.

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While we were here, @fidodie and @mattybfat swung by to say hi, and we talked to them for a few minutes. They just happened to be in the hood running errands. I'm just gonna leave that there.

After the pool, we drove up to Plattsburgh and grabbed some dinner at a Himalayan Restaurant. Yeah, I really just said that. It was actually pretty damn good. Plattsburgh is a bit like Mars though.

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Before the hotel, had to swing by and get some ice cream.

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Sunday started with D's parents and nephew coming down to pick up the boys. That's D's mom behind them. We were here having breakfast when they came in. We hung out here for a little while as everyone finished up breakfast.

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Last pic before the split!

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This is what the weather was like up yonder. I just want to say that @2Julianas and @MurderBort must be damn good friends for us to drive away from this and ride with them today. I just want that to go in the official report!

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Almost exactly at 1:00 we made it to Taconic for the ride. As we were getting ready, we ran into Ken Welch, who gave us a tour of the park for an hour before he called it a day and we went off on our own for another hour.

Truth be told, at the very end of the first part of the ride, I ate shit pretty hard after hopping a small jump close to the parking lot. I think the combination of low pressure in my fork and my front tire combined to bottom me out pretty hard and I popped the bead, flatted the tire, and proved gravity a little bit. Walked back to the car and fixed things up before we rolled out for the second part of the ride.

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Then we knocked out a little sushi for dinner.

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Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Your Horoscope for Monday, August 20th
Here is my horoscope if I were each of the various astrological signs, for Monday, August 20th, 2018.

Aries - Your friend @walter asked you if your daughter was in Canada last week, to which the answer is no. She was with her mother this past weekend as it was not actually a kid's weekend. You ended up just having the boys to bring them north to their grandparents. Julia was with her mother, is still with her mother, in the great state of Massachusetts. When you asked her if her trip was good so far, she replied "Yeah." When you asked what she did, she replied, "Nothing." You know that these kids are not big on words at this age.

Taurus - You started watching The Tunnel, season 2. Despite saying you would not recommend it, this does not mean you don't like it. You do, in fact, like it. While this sounds like an oxymoron, it is not. In a not entirely similar vein, you think road racing is amazing but you would not necessarily recommend it to your friends. While you know this is not a perfect analogy, you think it makes the point. If it does not, you don't care.

Gemini - On a Freakonomics podcast this past weekend you heard about a book called The Year of Living Danishly. You've decided that when you're done with the Murderbot books you are going to get this for the Kindle next. You are very interested in what the author has found in terms of why the 5 Nordic countries have a higher happiness factor than most other countries in the world. These 5 are routinely in the top 10, worldwide. While you have no imminent plans to move to any of these 5 countries, you are curious how you can personally apply any of the ideas the author discovered to your life. You believe that happiness is attainable anywhere, for the most part. While you are happy, you would be a fool to not always try to attain higher level of happiness.

Cancer - While trying to change your brakes on your mountain bike today, which you have named Ted2, you nearly go get your baseball bat and smash it into bits. You don't understand how every bolt on this POS can be seized all the time. You give up, and say F the brakes. You also need to swap out the front tire, which you say F it to as well. The chain needs to be lubed, but F it. F this bike.

Leo - You and @Dominique decide to join @UtahJoe at Dickerson Mine after work. You pick up D from her office and drive together, then ride with Utah for 1.5 hours. It is a moderately easy ride and while still humid, the temperatures are wonderful. You're thrilled it is not 490 degrees outside today, and it is downright splendid to ride in this weather. While the park is small, you enjoy it. Following Utah around makes the ride mindless, which you are happy about. Sometimes it's nice to just ride, and not think.

Virgo - @jmanic brings a good point to your attention, that parking lots appear to be the primary place for your crashes. You think about this while considering watching The Postman, but you decide against it. After deep deliberation, you agree that he has a point and that you will start parking your car in the middle of the woods when you ride from now on. Either that or you will start walking your bike from the car to the trailhead. You think of Jason while you eat your PB chocolate ice cream tonight.

Libra - You try to decide on what you are doing on the bike this coming week. On paper, Friday through Sunday will be higher volume days, as you attend Cranks Around the Campfire. But you still need to figure out what Julia is doing this weekend which may have some bearing on how the weekend plays out. As usual, you know a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush. You plan to ride hard Tuesday through Thursday and see what happens from there.

Scorpio - You need to make 2 corrections to the previous blog. First, you meant to say that it was a "primarily photo blog." You were too tired to edit the post so you wrote it once and did not reread it. You also forgot to mention that the park you rode was Taconic. You had never ridden there before, despite there being a race there for years. The park was fun, and there are far more trails there than you were aware of. You would recommend it if anyone asked.

Sagittarius - You finished Murderbot 1, and immediately bought Murderbot 2 last night. You will blaze through these 4 books in short order and while it is $9.99 a book, it is well worth it. You also think that we as a society have a warped sense of worth. You realize that you went to the coffee roaster the other day and spent more than $6 on an espresso and a coffee. But you hesitate on spending $10 on a book that someone put hard work into.

Capricorn - You plan to ride Mahlon Dickerson tomorrow (Tuesday) with @UtahJoe and maybe @seanrunnette. This will serve as your first hard workout of the week. You are going to bring the RIP and will crawl the hard stuff, which is always a good workout. You hope the weather repeats itself again tomorrow. Tomorrow will cap your Tour of Dick...erson.

Aquarius - You ask yourself this question in regards to work. What is your major character flaw that you start work every Monday and think that the idiots who were idiots on Friday are not still idiots on Monday. You wonder what happens between these 2 points that you think these idiots will wake up Monday and suddenly not be idiots. You realize, sadly in fact, that this is not the case. You put your head down and try to get work done and hope to avoid the idiots, which is not entirely possible.

Pisces - You are a fish. Bummer.
 

jmanic

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
Staff member
JORBA.ORG
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I like this format.
I look forward to reading a "Dear Norm Landers" column in the future,
oooh- maybe one from The Ethicist?
 

Magic

Formerly 1sh0t1b33r
Team MTBNJ Halter's
My horoscope sucked. I'm still confused.

But it sucks more for my sister. My sister is a fish.
 
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