the bike ride

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Friday I biked up to camp Nauvoo. The trip is almost exactly fifty miles by bike, all up hill.

I planned to leave by 7:00am, yeah right, I left around 8:30. the first leg is easy hop on the bike path at Arden and follow it into Folsom, and the morning was great out. Lake Natomas was like a mirror. In Folsom I waited for the bike shop to open so I could buy some bike shorts, they were more expensive there (a lot more expesive) then they would have been at my usual place but it was on the way and I needed the shorts.

Anyway, it is about 10:30 when I reach Green Valley Rd where I refill my water at a Taco Bell and begin the second leg. This is the stretch from Folsom to Placerville, the steepest stretch and the longest. At Cameron Park I stop for Lunch. I have the chose between Quik stop, a Mexican place, and a Chinese food place I went with the lunch special at the Chinese food place figuring the rice would be a good chose. The rice was the beef and broccoli on the other hand, not so much.

The second leg ends at Missouri Flats Rd where the is the fist real shopping center on the route I stop and buy a Sobe and a bottle of sunblock, then I sit in the shade of the parking lot and deliberately slather myself with it and sip the Sobe. The people passing seem to think I am dying, I had thought that about myself more that once on the ride up.

The third leg was the mystery. I had never gone those last ten miles and I had some concerns about biking down a street named “pretty good rd.” The first problem with the third leg is that the roads are busier than the second leg and in many places they have no shoulder to bike on. This means I ended up walking my bike on the gravel at the side of the road for several stretches of indeterminable length.

The next problem is the directions that I had found in an attempt to avoid busy streets
Took me .4 miles down a street that had a sign at the main road reading “road ends 3/10 mile” at the bottom of the hill there is an empty field and a house. I knock on the door and nobody answers even though I hear people inside, I suddenly feel like I am on my mission again. I start back up the hill to where I there had been good pavement leading off to the right I figure it was just a drive way but I figure it is worth checking. It was a drive way but this lady actually answered her door, she told me the neighbors behind her where on “pretty good rd” and she thought that if I could get through the field at the bottom of the road I should be able to get on it. I had to carry my bike through a creek bed full of poison oak but I found Pretty Good Rd. It was of course dirt and it took a while headed the wrong direction for me to get oriented but I did.

Once I was back on the pavement it was fun time I took a lane and began the decent into the valley. I don’t have a computer for my bike so I don’t know how fast I was going, but the wind in my ears sounded like a train passing me (without the click-ity-clack of course.) when I got into camp I left my bike at the meadow and walked into the creek like some kind of zombie. I had done it.

And oddly enough for the second time this summer I felt out of shape.

Birthday Detective

The morning after my birthday I got a ring on the tellie. A young women asked if I was up for a scavenger hunt. I had been about to head to my apartment and get all cleaned up for the day, but I figured "sure why not."

The first clue was delivered by a cute blonde girl , who before giving it to me requested I pat my head rub my tummy and jump up and down on one foot while reciting the alphabet from Z to A. (this happens to be a special talent I have) the clue said something along the lines of "your birthday gift is not a boat, so head to where you'd get a root beer float." Of course, there where also instructions not to follow the messenger and a sign I had to wear around my neck, there was also a time limit.

I was not yet certain who was the hunt master, but the list was fairly small. It is no small secret that I love ice cream and that I love root beer and that I love ice cream floating in root beer, but this person knew where I went for root beer floats, and that I could do the jump on one foot thing AND had access to cute messenger girls at 11:00am on a Tuesday.

I got to A&W quicker that the hunt master had expected since I was driving rather that biking and I happened to see cute messenger girl running into said rootbeerery (if that ain't a word it should be.)

Inside the store it turned out to be a different cute blonde girl with my clue but first I had to do the pop corn popping song with hand motions... so the hunt master was definitely LDS. My next clue instructed me to have a root beer float then go to the store that bore my middle name. Okay, I got two floats one for me and one for cute messenger girl #2. By now I had my educated guess as to the identity of the hunt master and having softened up the messenger with a tall cold one I did my level best to get her to crack. No luck this kid could play hard ball, but I could read the signs in her eyes and I knew I was on the right track.

Across the parking lot and in the store with my name I found cute messenger girl #1, with the bold request that I do 10 push ups if I wanted the next clue, she was driven a hard bargain but I talked her down to 5. The next Clue sent me to row 8 and their was Cheryl with a copy of Bed, Bed, Bed. I had been right on the money, the cute messenger girls where here nieces that was why they looked like her sister. Bed Bed Bed is the best bedtime story/children's cd ever written and recorded by an alterative rock band and if you have never heard it I recommend it highly.

Anyway, thanks Cheryl, and here's lookin' at you kid.

birthday

Now I am officially a menace to society. I turned 25 this week and I am still single.

I spent the morning sleeping, since the weekend had not yielded much sleep. Then I went to work. It was a good day at work, Kim got me a milkshake and everybody had signed a card for me. After work I went to Ice cream with Scott and Esther and Crystal and Rosie. We went to Leatherby’s and had a good time. Then Rosie, Crystal and I went by my parent’s house so my family could sing me happy birthday and eat ice cream in my honor. After that Rosie and I met up with Cheryl and saw The Dukes of Hazard. It had some amusing scenes but the swearing really detracted from the movie. After that it was time to call it a night.

Now I am ¼ century old, and I don’t feel I have gotten much done I suppose this is normal. I don’t know… I just don’ know.

Date to the Lake

Saturday afternoon I had a date to the lake. Cheryl had invited me to go with her to Folsom Lake along with her Brother and Donna (a girl in my ward) she also invited Jordan along as a companion for her sister. Jordan and I had borrowed a tandem sit-on-top kayak from a neighbor and we had packed mine as well.

Donna and Mike attended to the grill while Jordan and Cheryl went for a ride in the tandem and I swam in the lake with Krista. We also played some Frisbee. For diner we had hamburgers and watermelon. Then I took Cheryl on the kayak, we paddled out to a tree growing in the lake and I tried to climb it, but I couldn’t. We also paddled out to a big rock. I really enjoy Kayak with someone; it is far more fun that way.

I think Cheryl was content with the outcome of the Mike and Donna set up, the two of them had gone for a nice long walk after diner and had had a good opportunity to get to know each other. On the other hand I feel that Krista was kind of cheated. This is not to say that Jordan is not a fun and nice guy, but he lacks skill in the date department and, Cheryl had gone to a lot of work to get Mike and Donna on a date and had just kind of grabbed someone convenient for Krista. I of course have never been one to decline a social invitation and I think all of us had fun. (please note that Jordan and Krista did in fact go kayaking together at some point after diner)

The only bad part of course was that it ended and I had to go into work for another overnight shift.

A Confusing Play

So Rosie and I went to support Suz and Jeff by watching their play. The first play was a short one act, Jeff and Suz played a newly wed couple and it was very cute.

The second play was Ford’s Box and it much harder to follow. From the title I had expected it to be about the model T. It was not. It was about the people who where in the box at Ford’s Theater with President Lincoln when he was assassinated. I am fairly well versed in US history and I caught on that Mary Todd was Mary Todd Lincoln fairly quickly but she was the only one whose name I was familiar with. Mrs. Lincoln, it is well known, was mentally unstable what I had not known is that the other man on that balcony went insane afterwards as well. Since the play has to do with someone who was insane and someone else who was going insane it was rather difficult to follow.

The play was visually appealling to me. I particularly liked "the actor" and the audience interaction entertained me as much as it confused the rest of the audience, but if you are one of tose people who are bothered by things that don't make sence to you, Ford's Box might not be your cup of tea

Lastly I hope that I didn’t offend the actors too much but If they are going to violate the space of the audience then they should be prepared for the audience to enter their space.

bowling and other stuff that cost money

Last thursday I got off work early and decided I should hang out with Rosie and Crystal, so after phoning and waiting and driving the three of us ended up at Country Club Lanes, Sacramento's cool bowling alley. Now I don't go bowling often but it seems most places still charge per person per game, Country Club charges per person per hour and it adds up fast. Our total came to $55 and we only bowled two games.

Anyways, enough whinning about the cost, I had alot of fun, and actually bowled fairly well after I slowed down and tried to remember how to make the ball go where you want it to. Rosie, who had chosen bowling, didn't do as well. Her wrist was bothering her and the bad frames got her in a minor funk. Crystal is the only person I know that owns her own bowling shoes and wrist guard, but the second game I still beat her. After Bowling I went with rosie back to her place where we watched Zoolander. I had not seen it and was surprised that I found it quite funny since I don't like most of Ben Stiller or Will Farrell's movie. Then I slept on the floor at Rosies.

Friday morning Rosie and I worked out and then went swimming. I will never really remember how quickly I can sunburn, we spent only an hour at the pool an I still ended up with pink shoulders. Following the pool I really should have taken a nap in preparation for working the over night shift, but I went with Rosie to the bead store instead.

The bead store is the kind of place where somebody should propably be holding my hand and watching my every move because it is full of little open topped cups of little tiny sparkly things some of which LOOK like they might taste very good. I managed to get out of the store without breaking anything, losing anything or doing any damage.

After the bead store we went to lunch/diner at a place in Folsom called BJ's I was impressed with the food but their draft root beer was not any better then the stuff in a can. I had a bbq beef sandwich and Rosie had the "not quite a cobb salad." We both left full and happy.

After a serious round of phone tag we procurred two tickets for a play downtown that my long time friend, Suz, and a member of my ward, Jeff, are playing in. It would have been three tickets but Crystal decide she needed to stay home and spend some quality time with her cat (I am not joking, she really love that cat.) It was really good to see Suz, but right after the show
I had to head into work for an over night shift.

I was training a new guy to so not only was it the night shift but I couldn't do any of my usual distractions (blogging reading etc.) I am embaraced to admit that I actually fell asleep leaning against the wall While john was working on the nightly spreadsheets. by the time mourning rolled around I was definatly ready for bed.

book

I honestly don’t read much non fiction as leisure reading. And while summer school was going I wasn’t doing much leisure reading at all, but last week I picked up a book from my book shelf called “How I Accidentally Joined the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy (and Found Inner Piece).”

Now before I go on I should mention that not only am I conservative, I am very conservative. I think Social Security is unconstitutional and that the direct election of US senators should be reconsidered, that is how off the chart right wing nut job I am.

The book is a memoir by Harry Stein. A journalist who was a anti-war protestor in the sixties who has slowly moved to the right over the last 20 years or so, due to moral issues that have come up since having children. I liked the book because Mr. Stein clearly articulated the importance of morals, values and standards to our culture, from a non-religious point of view.

Random thoughts on the night shift

Why do socks have that seam that run across the top of your toes? It drives me nut. They should put the seam so that it is under where your toes bend.

If some one gives the impression that no matter what you do for them they won’t be happy it is hard to be motivated to do anything for them and it is harder to feel bad when they are unhappy with what they got.

Is the previous comment a degenerative cycle that actually explains the cranky person? I hadn’t noticed that possibility while dealing with the cranky person only while writing it down.

I just gave something extra to the person who originally seemed cranky and they where a little nicer.

The fact that you can watch movies on a laptop makes it vary hard to type on them.

The word Sanctuary has it's root in the latin word for sacred. It's relation to safty came later but it is appropriate that the places we feel safe are sacred to us.

Historical movies bug me: this probably goes back to my suspention of disbelief issue and is compounded by my love for historical facts.

Some one really should make a good movie about the war between the early US and the barbary pirates.

Cheryl needs to value sleep more than she does ;D

I need to do better at keeping my blog up to date