Up early.
Watch part of Hungarian Grand Prix.
Head to Jason’s.
Head to Birmingham to the Barber Motorsports Park.
Watch racing.
Take pictures.
Sweat like a dog.
Meet cool people.
See fast cars.
Eat at P.F. Changs.
Drive home (Jason’s Lancer Evolution is WAAAY fast).
Shower.
Bed.
Took the bike out and rode for a few miles. Everything looks to be in order - new tires worked well. I was also MUCH more comfortable wearing the padded cycling shorts. That’s the ticket right there.
After killing a few ants and spiders, I was able to get out my big ladder to get up on the roof. The ladder’s in a storage shed on the back of my property. I don’t have a need to get in there much so all the little bugs have time to settle in a little. I think I’ll just get my bug guy to spray back there and keep all the wildlife under control from now on.
Clambered up on the roof to see what the deal was. Yep, this one panel up there was warping on one side. Luckily, I was able to hammer it down but unfortunately, that’s only going to be a temporary fix. I’m going to have replace that board. What I did will buy some time but I need to plan on doing that in the next few weekends.
While I was all nastified from being outside, I went ahead and trimmed back some bushes. My crepe myrtle plants got a little out of control and needed a lot of work. I also cleaned up around some rose bushes in the back yard. The other big task was to trim off all the crap growing through the fence from my neighbor’s yard. Things look a lot better now.
To wrap things up, I gave Kelsey a much needed bath. She had been following me all over the yard wanting to play fetch but I was busy trying to get done and back into the comfort of the A/C. She was happy to get cooled off and clean. I let her have a big honkin’ doggie biscuit for behaving well. It’s funny, she’s considerate enough to walk far from me before she shakes the water off so I don’t get wet. How cool is that?
K, I had 3 things I wanted to accomplish today - working on my bike, watching F1 qualifying to the Hungarisan G.P. and doing that roof repair. I’ve watched the qualifying and got the tires changed and wheels re-mounted on my bike. That was easier than I expected. The tires I got were these. I also replaced the tubes. The other thing that was different on these from the old tires was that the new tubes use presta valves instead of the schrader valves. I ordered some adapters though so I can use my regular air pump with the presta’s. I’m gonna go for a spin around the ‘hood to make sure all is in order then start on the roof thing.
I was draggin most of the day because I didn’t sleep well last night. Luckily, I had a lot of running around to do all day so there was really not much time for me to get too comfortable - except for the ride to and from lunch. Kay drove today, she and Lesa up front and me trying to get comfy in the back. Logan’s Roadhouse was where we went today. My food was good… the girls’ steaks however were overcooked. Subsequently, they got their meals free. Mine was fine so I didn’t care that I had to pay.
Meeting, meetings and more meetings. There was a point to them though! Got several projects signed off on which is the goal of my existence. Kinda.
Oh, that bike stuff I ordered the other day arrived right on time. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get my new tires mounted up tomorrow and ride a little. I also got the padded shorts in. I tried them on and thought, this must be what it feels like to have one of those ultra-mega maxi pads on. Kinda like having a sofa cushion between your legs. That’s new. By the looks of it though, riding will be much more comfortable.
I’ve got to take a look at my roof tomorrow. There’s a spot above my porch where the plywood is warping a little. Hopefully, I can just get up there and nail things down. If not, then I’ll be picking up some felt paper, shingles and some new plywood which will turn out to be a big chore for the day. I’ll just hope for the best.
Sunday should be good. I’ll be heading to Barber Motorsports Park for a racing event. My buddy from Inday, Reed Stevens will be there racing in Formula BMW. Be good to hang with him for a bit and see what’s been going on with him for the last month.
I had to poke around a little more on other people’s blogs but I did find more folks getting into the HNT groove. Grace, Mel’s friend had this. Another girl had her first attempt at this here.
I probably need to just add a list of blog links on the side for all the HNT participants I run across. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.
In other news, today’s probably going to suck just a little bit. I drank 3 or 4 Mt. Dews yesterday and got the boneheaded idea to have a mocha latte at about 4:30PM. Guess what? I slept like crap. At least it’s Friday though!
That I have ZERO pictures of me involved in anything scandalous to contribute to HNT. Sigh. I must be slowing down in my old age.
As I mentioned before, props to Mel for upping the ante from the foot shots last week. I’m not sure what she’s got up her sleeve(?) for next week but something tells me it involves 2 things… Alcohol and - Grace. See? Anywhere you have Asians, something fun breaks out. And pictures get taken. How ironic.
For lunch today, I talked Lesa and Luke into sushi over at Miwon. Yum! I got my fill. I also had a little TOO much wasabi in one bite and almost choked. Nice. After I wiped away the tears, things were okay. I was kinda laughing at myself but holy smokes… that got hot FAST.
After work, I went over to a friends to set up her wireless network with her new DSL connection. Normally, it only takes me a few minutes to get going but there was something f*’d up about this and I was unsuccessful. I was pretty frustrated. My friend invited me to dinner instead where I was glad to have a drink and some good food. I’m still stumped as to what the problem with the network was. I’m going to have to figure that out or it’ll bug me.
While I was getting frustrated working on the network, I get a call from Kevin. I was supposed to loan him my in-ear monitor for band practice tonight. Crap. Sorry dude. Next, I get a call from Jeremy. He’s drumming in my place this week. He wanted to borrow my tambourine. Can’t do it, I’m on the other side of town. I feel like a heel now. Sorry guys.
Did I miss any other good HNT shots? JaB had her usual style of photo up today which was cool. Veronica has dropped off the face of the planet I think, and none of my local friends stepped up to the plate.
I need more friends.
Okay, Mel has upped the ante on HNT. Check her photo for today’s event HERE.
As I was suspecting, it was higher than normal because of the oppressive heat we’ve been having. That’s PERFECTLY fine with me as I like the house nice and cool, even cooler when I go to bed.
Last night for dinner, myself, Kyle, Kevin, Phillip and Leslie met up at Aldoria’s - a local Mexican restaurant.
Me: How much are your top-shelf margaritas?
Waitress: $4 I think
Me: Can you check on that? (seemed too low)
W: Oh, they’re $8
Me: Geez… I’ll have a Corona I guess.
W: We’re out of Corona
Me: How about Negra Modelo?
W: We’re out of that too.
Me: I’m sorry, is this a Mexican restaurant?
W: Uh.
Me: How about a Dos Equis?
W: We have those!
Me: Are you sure?
Sigh.
Anyway, we discovered it was Phillip’s birthday so we celebrated that. Another aquaintance of mine, Jessica, was celebrating her birthday too. She was there with someone or else I would have spent more time with her. After all the eating was over, I swung by the grocery store to pick up a few things I was needing.
Today, MelMega has started a new trend in the spirit of HNT… what I call TTT or Totally Trashed Tuesdays. I can’t wait for Thursday though. Hopefully she’s have something more JaG-like hehe!
Oh, in other news, I’m gonna try and get out on my bike soon and go riding trails with some friends. I need to get some biking shorts though as I’ve got to be sure I don’t damage “the boys”. That would be a bad thing.
Lastly, I finished my Harry Potter book today. Crap. Now I can’t wait till the next one comes out. Shazbot.
WHOA! 70’s flashback.
According to the weather gadget on my desktop, it’s 94 degrees outside with humidity in the 80% vicinity. That’s HOT. It’s not in the triple-digits like some other parts of the nation but it’s definitely not comfortable by any means. I’m glad that on days like today my central air is working like a champ and my cable and satellite TV feeds bring in hundreds of channels of entertainment to choose from.
Speaking of hot, yesterday’s outing was quite warm. Luckily, we were on the banks of a river underneath a canopy of trees. It was still warm but nothing like being in the direct sun - that’s for sure. There was a great turn-out of folks! It was great seeing all the people, both old friends and new coming out to participate. I took advantage of the crowd and took several hundred pictures.
The food was beyond delicious. It was your regular picnic fare plus a whole lot more! Drinks were provided free of charge from our local Pepsi product dealer. Since I’m a big Mt. Dew fan, I wasn’t disappointed. As hot as it was though, bottled water was my preferred drink.
The highlight of the day was the baptism in the river of a couple, who incidentally were hosting the party. Nice folks. I’m sure it was encouraging for them to have just about everyone there at their place to witness it.