WL FL

I almost said "woke up early", but I wake up early every day!  I just didn't hit the gym this morning because E-mail (yes, this is a person) and I were going for an early road ride.  We met near where he lives off Bannerman Road.  I figured we would put up about 3 hours, so I brought some goo's and cliff bars.  The weather was as good as it gets.  We had nice cool shade going out Meridian and headed West before the sun was too hot.  E-mail and I always babble the whole ride about a variety of topics and today was no different.

I wish I had taken a picture of one of the fields we passed, it's a gorgeous sight!  I remember a long time ago we did a century ride out here with the gang and stopped for a photo at about the same spot.

By the time we got back, it was HOT HOT HOT!  I am really still acclimating back on the bike and have been riding 1.5-2 hours.  Putting up over 3 in the heat fried my noggin.  My legs felt great and I wasn't cramping, but by the end of the ride, any effort made my heart explode - the heat had got to me.  I blasted the AC in the truck on my way back home and took the long, scenic way back.  Even though I had some nutrition on the ride, my spidey senses led me to Ali's Strawberry Shakes and Farmers Market.  I had a corn dog (what?!  my body was in full overdrive) and a grouper sandwich.  Ali's is a bit of a drive for much of Tallahassee, but it's pretty close to our house and it's just good eatin'.  They have a good "fair" type menu, but also have some great smoked meats and shakes, and the people there are always really friendly.

I got home around 1:30pm.  I pretty much spent the rest of the day laying in bed moaning about the state of my body and mind.  I snapped out of it just long enough to pickup Robert from Granny's house.  After a nice relaxing evening at home, another day is in the books.

Today I woke up early and went to the gym.  It was a ghost town no thanks to the game festivities from yesterday.  After the gym, I came home and goofed off until the bike shop was open.  After my flat tire yesterday, something just didn't feel right with the rear end and I wanted to have it checked out.

The guys over at The Great Bicycle Shop have been taking really good care of me.  J.C. said he'd take a look at things.  I debated riding the bike to the shop, trying to guilt them into looking on the spot, but decided against it.  He said he would probably have it back to me late the next day.  Not the end of the world, since I have a road bike and need to spread the love between all my aluminum children.  I headed over to Costco on the way home and picked up gas for the edger & mower, and some eats: a rotisserie chicken and a monster salad to munch on this week.

When I got home, Rachael messaged and said that her team was heading up to Tijuana Flats for lunch.  I was dressed like a bum - big surprise (earlier style reference) - but went because the food is yummmmy!  Everyone asked what I was up to and my official answer to anyone who asks is "whatever I want".  Concise, and true.  After stuffing myself for the xyz day in a row (who's counting, really?) ... I headed back home to face reality: yardwork.  I mowed the lawn, it takes me about 2 hours to do a full job: edge, weed whack, mow, blow. 

When I was done, I checked my phone and was pleasantly surprised by a call from the shop!  My bike was ready!  Sweeet.  No charge?  I'm in love.  I had just enough time to zip over to the shop for my bike, then back home to swap vehicles and pickup Robert!  Then had a good evening at home with the family!

In the afternoon we went to our brother and sister in-law's house (who shall remain nameless, they google their names and would frown upon the exposure).  Grandma made barbeque shrimp and Grandpa boiled some.  It was slap your momma good!  I had a gripe with barbeque shrimp though; it didn't have BBQ sauce and wasn't cooked on the grill.  wtf mate!?  We were there most of the day and pretty much crashed when we got home. 

I woke up a little while after falling asleep to see that the Noles were in the lead!  Yeehaa!  Rachael woke me up a little later, 22 seconds on the clock, down by 4.  We had ample opportunity but couldn't come up with the win.  Rachael and I were all bummed, and I stayed up for a little while longer to watch some of Tropic Thunder - very strange, somewhat funny, I didn't see it all before falling back asleep.

Today I woke up at 4:30a and fed Robert.  I noticed that The Last Castle was playing on HBO.  I absolutely LOVE this movie!  Robert and I hopped in bed with mommy and watched it.  Ok, I watched, he slept.  At some point he got up with mommy and I kept on sleeping, until 10a!  This might happen to me pretty rarely, usually the latest I can wake for the day is about 7a.

We tried to relax and play with Robert, went for a short family walk with Robert and the pups.  Then we went to pickup Grandma and Grandpa to take them out for lunch at Angelo & Sons Seafood in Panacea.  There was soooooo much food, delicious seafood!  On the way back we picked up some shrimp for a family cookout tomorrow.

When we got home, we played with Robert for a while and then put him to bed.  Now we're watching some TV before we go to bed!

Today I got up and went to Code Camp 2009, put on by Captial City .NET User Group.  I went last year and enjoyed seeing what other technologists are doing.  I got there at about 7:30a and stayed through 2pm.  I checked out the following sessions:

• Delegates, Lambda’s, and Expressions (Oh My!)
• SOLID Principles
• The wonderful world of Generics, and Reflection
• Persisting Data with NHibernate

It's a very impressive event.  I think there were almost 200 attendees, it's 100% free and put on by volunteers!  They have free breakfast and lunch, and give away killer schwag!  I answered a question in the first session and got a book!  (MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit:Exam 70-562)

The .NET user group meets the first Thursday of the month.  I'm trying to get our condo association to change the monthly meeting day so I can attend the user group meetings.

I talked to a bunch of participants, some I have known for a while, others I see at places like the gym.  I also ran into a few guys who work at the company I'll be starting with soon.  One approached me and asked a question related to a session we were in.  When we started talking, it ends up he works where I'm going.  Very nice guy.  Not a single person from my previous employer attended.

We had dinner plans with some friends to go to Liam's in Thomasville.  Grandma and Grandpa watched Robert for us.  I won't go into a long diatribe about how Rachael and I don't really drink much wine or eat super fancy cheese.  So I'll keep things simple:

• Liked a couple of the cheeses (one smelled like dirty feet)
• Most of the food was fantastic (less bold than flavors Rachael and I do at home, but great food)
• Wine was all really good
• Desert rocked
• Company was the best part ...

The late night out caught up with me.  Woke up in zombie mode to help with Robert.  We napped a little together and had a great morning.  He was laying on the floor and looked up at me and smiled, I can't really explain it, but it felt special and made me all gushy.  I can't explain it because he smiles and giggles all the time, but for some reason it struck a chord.  Then we packed up and went over to the in-laws for lunch, mommy met us again.

I'm very picky when it comes to clothes, although my style would be characterized as ... BUM.  The only reason I mention this is because my in-laws picked up some 70% off shirts for me from Dillards.  I only liked one, but really appreciated the gesture!  So I went to return the other shirts.  I wandered around Dillards for a little bit.  I thought about walking some of the mall, but it's the M-A-L-L so I went home instead.

I really wanted to ride, but my legs probably need the rest.  So I tackled some house chores.  I seriously cleaned the bathroom and did about 80% of the bedroom.  We have a major dust problem!  Little de-clutter and a vacuum this weekend and it will be in great shape.

This Labor Day weekend is the 11 year anniversary of when I picked up my truck.  My first (and hopefully last) trip on a Greyhound.  It was a little nerve wracking because I had to learn to drive a manual or I wouldn't be able to get back to FSU!  In case there is any doubt, I made it.  I also still have the truck!  My brother just got back from driving the truck around the Northeast all summer!  Weighing in at just over 140k miles, it's been to Texas twice, Connecticut 3 times, and South Florida countless times.  My buddy E. Post and I crammed all of our gear in it and drove all over Florida for 2 Florida State Mountain Bike Race seasons.  It is a great truck.

Today and tomorrow the lady who watches Robert is on vacation for the long weekend!  Grandma and Grandpa were coming over from Mississippi to watch him while we were at work.  However, due to daddy's new vacation ... the plans changed!  I'm watching Robert in the morning so they don't have to get up early and come over to our house all day.  Around lunch time we'll go on over, hang out for a little bit, and they'll watch him for the afternoon while I, uhh (whatever I want).

Usually I have morning duty (0430-0515-ish)- diaper, bottle, chit chat, then back in bed, and I'm off to the gym.  At night, mommy feeds him rice cereal and a bottle.  Inbetween he'll be at daycare (that word is awful sounding).  So spending all morning with him, alone, was something I haven't done much.  It was cool, we sat and chatted and did our thing, even got a few naps in!  Fine, yes, we played facebook poker too.

Grandma and Grandpa made some lunch for dad!  Mom came over from work and had lunch with us too.  A little after lunch, I split to go home and hop on the bike.  I got in almost 2 hours.  It was a little warmer than my other rides, but still good.  My legs definitely were speaking to me!  See any alligators?

After my ride, I went back over to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner!  It was a quick dinner because then I had to attend the monthly condo board meeting.  At just about an hour, it was actually a short one (and a civil one at that).  I can only hope that the 2+ hr meeting days are behind us.

I went out for some drinks with a buddy.  Good stuff.  Rachael was messaging me saying that Grumpert (Robert's grumpy alter ego) was full boar.  When I walked in the door, it sounded awful!  Moans of pain and serious screaming.  It's always easy from the outside to point and ask questions, one of my first questions was if he was hungry.  After takling about what she'd tried, and making a bottle, HE SUCKED THAT THING DOWNNNNNN.  Then he went right to sleep!  Phew!

Not a lot to check off a list for the day, but a great day off.

Got a nice ride in, almost 2 hours pedal time.  Headed East where there isn't a lot of traffic and there are some great canopy roads.  There was a nice tail wind on the way out, which of course meant a head wind on the way back.

About 4 years ago I was out this way every week for the Saturday Chaires group ride.  The scenery is the same, some of the roads have been resurfaced and are niiiice and smooth (I have long since forgotten where all the pot holes would have been!).  One weird observation; I saw at least 6 people mowing their lawn/field, yes, on Wednesday afternoon.  Guess I'm not the only one who isn't at work!

Legs felt good. It's been a long time since I've been on a bike this much and I feel like I'm right back in the swing of things. I can clear my head completely and not think about a thing if I choose.  I hope this break helps me get a ride schedule back.  If I can lose some baggage I know I would be right back where I left off.

I'd like to start posting some ride stats from my Polar HRM.  Offhand, I know my max speed today was just over 38mph, it was on a downhill of course and felt AWESOME.

This morning's outdoor activites were rained out.  So I stayed in and did some chores!  I organized our cleaning supplies (wow, mess).  Got the upstairs all taken care of; 2 bedrooms and a bathroom.  Robert has been moving a lot in his sleep, so I lowered the crib mattress a notch.  We really need to do a better job of periodic cleaning so it's more manageable.

Our Otterboxes were delivered!  Got my phone loaded up!  It is bigger, but feels a lot more secure ... if I'm toting around an uninsured, extremely expensive thing, I think keeping it safe is important.  Now I won't hesitate to take it out of a plastic bag for pics while on a ride.  Every port is covered, the ear piece has a mesh over it, and the only completely open area is the speakerphone/mic at the bottom.  I did get some watermarking and just used the baby powder trick for now.

I have to pick up Robert before 5pm.  It's 1:30pm now, so I'm going to hop on the road bike for a couple hours, then clean up and pick him up!

Cruised up through FSU campus! So much has changed ... so much hasn't. One observation: it's 10am and everyone is dragging ass. I just heard someone say "I woke up at 8:50 OK!" ... heh, I've been up since ~4:45am.

I spotted a bench and sat to eat a cliff bar, the grainy texture of the bar ---- haha, no, none of that garbage on this blog!  Click here for a map of where I was sitting.  I was sitting facing South, there used to be a pool there, now it's a HUGE building.  Behind that there were tennis courts that had been converted for parking, now it's a multi-level parking garage.

Sorry for the blurry pic, I put my phone in a plastic sandwich bag.  Maybe after my Otterbox gets here this week I'll be willing to take the phone out of the bag when I stop for a picture. 

Anyways, got in a great ride, stopped on campus, stopped at Higher Ground Bike shop to say hello on my way back, rode a good bit of trail, it's a little muddy out there so when I got home I gave the bike a wash down.

(How long do you think I can keep up posting links inline with the story?  That always amazes/slightly irritates me about most blogs)

(Realizing that after I post from the phone, I need to come online at some point and clean up the formatting)

Wow. Never had a break from work this long since ... uh ... EVER!  Instead of spamming FB, I figure I can just blog. I think most blogs are silly, especially pointless ones. So my mission statement until 9/17:

Post about what I'm doing over the next 16 days. I will not look back on this time and say "I dunno what the heak I did". An opportunity like this doesn't come along often, so i'm going to make the most of it.

After that, who knows ... anyways, this first post is from my iPhone, posting via email.

My name is Billy.  I'm happily married with 1 kiddo; Robert.  I'm a software consultant and live and work in Tallahassee, FL.

I am starting a new position later this month, and have some time off to do ... whatever I want!  Since I've pretty much worked non-stop since I turned 16, I'm totally out of my element ...