Job Security

Just so all of you electricians, drywall finishers, and other trades know, as of this week your jobs are safe. I am at no risk of putting any of you out of work, especially the drywall finishers.

Here's the progression of demolition of the butler's pantry:





And then it went back together:




First off, thanks to John for helping me hang the drywall. It would have honked as a one person job. Thanks to Keely for putting up with said "home improvement" . . . I have made a lot of dust, but a lot of progress too.

This weekend I demoed the entire pantry, stripped the walls back down to the original plaster. As feared the previous owner did a couple things. He liquid nailed the plywood paneling to the plaster so as you can see in the pictures above, it was a mess when it got pulled off. He also torched a ton of space back there. The new shelving will provide much more and much more convenient storage for cereal, canned goods, etc.

There were a few adventures in it all. I shorted the circuit messing with the outlet, prior to throwing the breaker. There were sparks and the breaker was compromised to the point that the lights flickered pretty regularly. Great lesson learned about patience and taking the proper steps when beginning work. I was able to replace the breaker for a whopping $3.95 and the flickering is gone. When more work occurs in the kitchen I will be adding a breaker to the final position on the panel so as to be able to handle a microwave. Right now there is a whole lot on one circuit.

I did manage to get out and ride this weekend. I hit the hills of Boulder with Kevin yesterday and cratered more spectacularly than I ever have before. Coming back from Gross Reservoir I bonked thoroughly and completely and was reduced to a snails pace on the way back to Kevin's house. Fortunately he had some of his now famous pasta sauce ready for the eating when we go there! It is always a pleasure to ride with Kevin, he is still as fit as ever and can drop me in a heartbeat.

I think the time has come to turn on the heat in the house . . .

No Call List Again?

Didn't I sign up for this 5 years ago? I'm glad I don't have a home phone anymore . . . all renewed for the cell phone, no solicitor calls until 2012!

In trying to keep up the momentum created over the last two weekends, the home improvement projects continue this weekend. I will be attacking the kitchen full force, at least the butler pantry part. Butler pantry you ask . . . Pinkerton assumed that there is a butler stored in there, but the picture below gives you an idea of the true horror.



The goal for this weekend is to rip off all the cheesy paneling which is nothing mor than plywood, stained to look like who knows what. I got a glimpse of what is back there and I will have some drywall repair, some flooring to install, and some general improvements to make. When it is all said and done, I would like to add shelving for "dry goods" storage, a base cabinet and counter top, as well as a multi-bottle wine refrigerator. I will post an artist's rendering when I get bored at work.

Weather permitting, I am going to try to get together with Kevin and Mike Carter to ride this weekend. Nothing like getting your ass kicked, severely. On the plus side, I tested with Mike yesterday and power is still hovering where it should be.

Arts and Crafts

Denver only had to wait until October 21 to get the first snow fall. I'm sure it is a sign that we will have a mild winter . . . getting it out of the system early and what not. I did get to ride Saturday when it was a balmy 80 and turbo windy, but Sunday was trainer city.

Keely and I took advantage of the inclement weather to attack some projects on the home front. After last week's episode of tearing apart the house and rearranging we decided to keep up the momentum and hit the entry closet which was the last hold out when it comes to closets "done" by the previous owner. Although I didn't capture a true before, here's "before" . . .



And after:




While the setup may look pre-packaged, it wasn't truly an out of the box solution. There were some custom modifications to the layout, some shelves added where ClosetMaid didn't intend. If everything comes crashing down, we will have learned that you can't drill holes in the vertical supports to add shelves.

The other project for the weekend was to make the spice rack for which I accumulated parts last week. I'll have to find and post the link for the $100 version you can buy, but here's what we came up with:



Now that we have a new spice rack, there's all sorts of cabinet space for other kitchen items, enabling us to keep the counter top clear of clutter and stuff for Dempsey to eat.



Speaking of the woof . . .

There goes the neighborhood

"It's a damn shame when folks be throwing away a perfectly good white boy like that."
- Better Off Dead

Ah the classics, they really don't make them like that anymore. Speaking of throwing things away, seems like the neighbors across the street seemed to have rid themselves and their lot of their house. I saw the track-hoe in the yard on Sunday and said to myself, "I bet this house is going to be gone by the end of the day Monday." To which I responded, "Self, you are correct."



The end of the week weather seems to be taking a turn for the crappier. I'm glad I have a basement to ride in, and cable TV to watch. Heck, I even have a window to open for fresh air. The next UCHSC study should be the effects of low level basement radon on performance . . . feel . . . so . . . dizzy.



Check out the innovative use of the water bottle cage . . .



What do you get when you mix a cyclist and electricity?



The outlet options were somewhat limited so I had to plug into the outlet on the keyless (that's fancy talk for a fixture that has no switch).

I am looking forward to the end of the week and possibly hitting a cross race this weekend up at Interlocken. The goal is to get a longer ride in as well on one of the days. We'll see how that goes.

Rock-tober

This means I am going to rock way harder than I usually do in a regular, every year kind of October. I thank the sports geniuses for making me aware of this and the fact that we have a long-loved home team when it comes to baseball, sure we didn't go to games for the past three years, but damnit, I'm a die hard, purple to the bone, Rockies fan. If they win the World Series, do we get to burn newspaper boxes and flip cars in Lodo again?

Deb was in town for the weekend, following her interview. She and Keely ganged up against me and decided it was time to make some changes in the house. Gone is the bobble head Billy Mays doll, although I think I can still pull it out of the trash if anybody wants an autographed collectible. I think Billy Mays was the home run record holder for a while and now he has been reduced to slinging Oxyclean products. It is a funny story how I picked up this item . . .

Sunday turned truly craptacular, so I spent the day with JD kicking around town, returning some of the stuff that didn't work in the house, and picking up a few items at the Home Depot. By 4:00 I managed to muster up the motivation to hit the trainer. I think riding the trainer was actually easier than riding the super turd wheels put together last week for winter training.

We'll see what the week brings, I don't anticipate any real excitement. There is planning for the cross race next weekend, dreaming up home improvement schemes, DTD, and of course what ever work I can manage to accomplish during the day.

Welcome to the . . .

. . . uh, Terror Basement?

In a recent survey 6 of 10 cycling coaches recommended that I get on the trainer instead of trying to squeeze rides into the last remaining bits of daylight. Where did I find these coaches you ask, don't ask I say.

I did get the basement set up to be as comfortable as possible a trainer venue. I now have digital cable, a source of light, a window to open, and even the possibility of plugging in a fan to blow the dust and spiders around. The good news is that I can sit up on the bike and pedal without my head hitting the ceiling of the basement. After an hour and ten minutes, I saw some changes that could be made to the basement but they would all require some pretty major work. I might put up some inspirational posters:



The calendar said either "blast up Lookout" or "indoor 2A" . . . I opted for indoor 2A and it was all the joy I remembered. Getting back on the trainer felt like I was introducing an air of seriousness back into the training program, no more slacking. I think I might go hit golf balls tonight . . .

Down with Productivity

It is all Brian's fault. Thanks to the hard level of Desktop Tower Defense I can't seem to get anything done. Brian says he is now some sort of god, I'll wait til there is proof positive in the picture form.

For some more pictures of my own . . . somewhat of a weekend recap . . . Tim Plemmons was in town for the Land Trust Alliance Conference. Below are some pictures from our trip to Frisco and the Mt. Royal hike.

Tim with Dempsey never far behind.


Ooooooh . . . aaaaaah . . . .


I'm crazy!


Dead tree with holes . . .

Cyclocross Culinary Experience

Do you think Dave T. get's this kind of treatment at the Tours of CA, GA or MO?


Ah, the joy of attempting to bake stuff on a charcoal grill . . . make that a Miller High Life charcoal grill . . .



The cornbread was well thought out, but my fears of not enough heat to bake turned into burnt bread bottom, giving the decently baked top a bit too much of a smoky flavor. Next time we'll bake in a heavier pan and/or use some sort of heat sink type something or other between pan and coals. Unglazed quarry tiles would have worked well and we could have held on to them for warmth after the bread was done baking.



It was pretty cold once the wind kicked up at the race. The giant pot of chili disappeared pretty quickly between Tim, Keely and myself, along with other spectators seeking warmth and comfort in the beef and bean form.



Prior to the race, Tim and I hit Mt. Royal just above Frisco. It provided some pretty good views, pictures to come. It also put Dempsey in the hurt locker for the day and kept him pretty docile at the cross race. He still seems to hate rottweilers, but who doesn't?

Agricultural Adventures

Amazing to think it was 2 years ago that I planted grass in the tree lawn area in my front yard and that it is not completely dead yet. I did some overseeding and fertilizing yesterday afternoon before getting out on the bike, in the hopes that the grass will return to the full glory of the day when it was sod.

As I get ready to do something with the backyard, I start to question my track record with plants. Let's see here . . . tropical banana leafy thing in the dining room . . . dead . . . herb starter kit sproutlings . . . dead . . . happy bamboo plant . . . dead . . . there are some bright spots, my front yard is still alive, just a bit too lush and full, the basil I planted from the refrigerated grocery store pack is still hanging on even after being re-potted and put outside. The mint from the same source is growing like mad. I guess if it is a weed or "native" I can do alright. We'll see what Shelli of Stems Garden Design comes up with for the backyard.

Today is cross training day, I think I might run outside with Dempsey even if nobody is chasing us.

Sweeeeeeeeet-eeeeet

What a great start to the week . . . drank some coffee, walked the dog, got ready for work, got in the car, started rolling, heard that distinctive sound of a flat tire . . . sweeeeeeeeeeeet. The good news is that the spare had air. The bad news is that I could never be on a NASCAR pit crew. First off, I am not enough of a redneck, but more significantly I am not so fast with the tools.

The weekend was a good one. Played a full 18 holes of golf on Saturday for the company tournament. I actually hit a couple good shots and helped the team out in the scramble. I hit a mean 5 iron out of the fairway rough and sunk some critical putts, including our only birdie of the day. One team said they hit a 55, I call BS on that. That comes to an average of 3 shots per hole, riiiiiight.

Sunday, we hit the cross race at Bear Creek Lake Park for some drinking, grilling, and cowbell ringing. The discovery of the day was the tater tot hot dog. If you put tater tots on your hot dog, it is mighty tasty.

Joey P. and I went out and abused each other on the bikes nice and early yesterday morning. I knew anything over about an hour and a half would hurt since I have not really put in any long rides since the week after Lamar. I survived, got in some good climbing and had a good time.

Back to work . . .