My friend Tim Joe the Trailer Park Cyclist sent me an e-mail today reminding me that it had been over a year since I last posted on my Blog. He also rather firmly reminded me that everyone has interesting things going on in their lives. Sometimes I forget that to keep a friendship going it has to be a two way exchange. to anyone that looks at my bloog I apologize for not keeping in touch, I will try and do better.
One of the major things that has been going on for the last year is my Dad has stage 4 prostrate cancer. It's hard to even think about much less write about it but maybe writing about it will help me come to terms with it all. When the doc gave him his sentence or diagnose depending how you look at it he looked him in the eye and said ok, how long should I expect to live. The doc mumbled and talked about treatment options and such.. My Dad told him that after watching my Mom get cooked with radiation and chemo and still dying he was having none of it. Then to add insult to injury the doc told him if they cut off his testicles that could add a few months to his life. I didn't hear what he said to that but I'm pretty sure it was something like are you F..ing crazy. So now when I visit him and ask how is he doing he always responds with I'm dying what do you think. Now I understand why I am such a cantankerous old coot I come from a long line of them.
After being retired for a while it has finally sunk in that making half of what I used to make working in academia can impact your cash-flow. So we decided to sell my beloved 1968 Pearson wanderer sailboat. The boat is all payed for but the yearly fees suck you dry. So far no one has come up with the cash but it's only a matter of time.
Ok that was depressing now for the good stuff I have been riding my bike or should say bikes every available hour  and still really enjoying it. The new trek I bought last year gets the lions share of the riding doing about a thousand miles since last August. But I also got addicted to trail riding as well so I bought a couple of used MTBs for Karen and I. The MTB I ride is too funny, I went to look at it from an add on Craigslist, guy said it was perfect and a late 90s.. Hmm..turns out it was a 94 Trek 8000. Great bike when it was new that was before it went to war or something like that. It had two flat tires, brakes so hard I thought they were rocks, cables loose frayed and sticking, the chain was so loose it was just hanging down. I asked the guy how much cause I thought the add said $200 and that couldn't be for this bike. He said yes that was correct. I actually laughed at him. I said lets get closer to reality. When I explained how much it would cost to make this hunk of aluminum into a bike he just looked like I just kicked him. He said his wife just had a baby and at some point she showed up with it. I wanted to offer him $50 but I have been in a tough situation where you have to sell anything you have get by. I told him I was being stupid but I offered him $100. He looked like he just won the lottery. Yes I payed way to much for that old bike but every time I ride it  I think about that big red haired kid with his red haired baby and maybe it helped them a little..
Doug