Gimme an OW!
2008-05-12, 5:16 p.m.

Day 1359

This getting old shit is for the birds. I�m just saying . . .

Lessee, where�d we leave off? I was no doubt griping about something. How about none of that for a while?

Got up bright & early Saturday, saddled up my trusty steed and headed out for a little ride. I think the temperature was in the low 40�s as I headed out. To compensate for the balmy temps, I added a long sleeve T-shirt and a fleece to my usual biking shorts & a tank top for this ride. Good thing too.

Did what I refer to as the Batavia Loop. From my house, I head generally southwest toward the metropolis of Batavia. I think it even qualifies as a city. Regardless � the way out to Batavia is generally uphill, sort of climbing out of the Genesee River Valley. Heading southwest, it�s also into the prevailing winds, which thankfully at 7:30 were (I thought) pretty light.

There�s something about physical exertion in chilly weather. It REALLY gets the mucous production going. I don�t know if I perfected it yet, but I have made huge improvements in my �snot rocket� technology. I don�t know what it�s doing to my chain & rear gears, but it does allow me to breathe decently.

Wound up getting to Batavia averaging a whopping 15mph. Pretty disappointing. Took a break just north of town on a bridge over I-90 which happens to be at almost the exact halfway point. Gobbled down an apple, half a HUGE Payday bar and about a pint of Gatorade. Noticed that the particular section of guard rail I was sitting on had a few rather large bolt heads sticking out the top surface. I was sitting directly on one of them. Compared to my bike seat, it felt pretty comfy. That�s kinda sad.

The ride back was eerily quiet. I finally figured out that it was because I was traveling with the wind. No wind noise blowing past my ears like it was on the trip out. Consequently, the trip back was quite a bit faster than the trip out. Got all the way up to a 17mph average on the way back. All in all, 59.2 miles in 3:42. Add in rest time and time spent waiting at traffic lights (4 or 5. Bad timing on my part I guess) and I still made it home before noon.

Spent the afternoon finishing up all the back splash tile work. Installed all those niggling little pieces around the outlets, the fillers under the cabinets and did the tiles behind the stove. Had dinner. Really don�t remember what it was. Friday was calzones, Sunday was Chinese. Saturday was, was, a blank. Man, musta been pretty good, huh?

Oh well. Sunday, for Mothers Day, Cindy got to help me grout all the tiles. She was thrilled. Until she found out how much work it was wiping down all the tiles after the grout set. Gets to be pretty serious arm work, especially on a wall where you can�t really lean your body into it. Wiping is hard work!! (You heard it here first!)

In the end? Totally worth it. The addition of those tiny white lines all over the place really helps to tie things together. I�ll get a few pics tonight to illustrate. I think I even have some of the backsplash with no grout. Might even be able to show the entire metamorphosis from nothing to cabinets, then adding counters, backsplash and finally the grout.

Decided on outlet covers too. Tried 3 different paint colors, disliked all of them. Actually found some on-line with a brushed copper finish. In pixels, they match the tiles over the range nearly perfectly. Now, since they won�t be directly next to each other, almost perfect will do nicely. Just spreads the same tone around, helping to pull it all together. Odd concept � spread it around to pull it together.

Sunday, being Mothers Day, is always a tough holiday. My own mom is a practicing Jehovah�s Witness. They believe worshipping false idols is a sin, therefore there are no celebrations of birthdays, Christmas, 4th of July (the flag being the false idol), Thanksgiving (the Turkey as a false idol!) (I know, I know . . .). So. To honor my mom�s religious bent, I ignore all holidays as it pertains to her. It�s more complicated than that, I don�t much care for it, and it�s yet another opportunity to practice sharing my feelings. But some dogs are better left sleeping. Amen, pass the ammunition.

Now for Cindy. Not my mom, BUT she IS the mom of my kids. Have to acknowledge that. But I hate the selection of cards normally available. So this year? I got an attractive, not overdone, inexpensive card, with some verse in it that didn�t take up a lot of space. The verse wasn�t horrible � some of the usual drivel. But on the facing side (left side of the card), it was nice & blank. So I wrote my own verse. In prose, because I didn�t leave myself time to write something all pretty and poetic. But still, my words.

Once the tiles were done (and she got over her morning/early afternoon grouchiness), Eric called from school. That helped with her attitude a bit. After, Cindy sat down and opened the card Eric so thoughtfully sent (it came Thursday even!!). Cute card. I never noticed Cindy open and read the card I left her. But I did get a very clear thank you for it later.

Of course, when I got the thank you, I also noticed something else that helped her attitude and explained the missing Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter. I only know it was missing because it was THE LAST ONE. Dammit. Now I have a few Brooklyn Monster Ales left, but I was really looking forward to that last porter.

I�m thinking she�s got a stash someplace too. Her breath had that sweet smell of beer for too long to be from just one beer � plus she was barely beyond noticeable tipsy, and that couldn�t have been from just one beer. I mean, not one of the porters. A monster ale maybe, but not the porter. So there is that still. But in the interests of the sleeping dog, I let it lie for last night. (Yeah, I�m apparently a slow learner - but we�ll wake that dog up when there�s time for a scrap.)

In other OW news, I went to bed perfectly (well almost) healthy last night. Let me correct that. I went to SLEEP perfectly healthy last night. This morning? Not so much. Felt a twinge in my low back as I was getting ready to go this morning. Didn�t think much of it � just a little morning stiffness (cut it out already, pervs).

Went spinning. Biking with Bill. Pounded the tar out of the spin bike this morning. What ever Bill was asking for, I was doing more. More speed, more climb, more sweat. The whole time I could feel my lower back bitching about it. Being bent over the handle bars was fine, but sitting up straight? OW.

In the showers I turned the water on pretty hot and just let it beat on my back. Oh man, did that feel good. For as long as the water was on it. Got to work and noticed I couldn�t get comfy in my chair. Hurt to sit, hurt to move. Standing was tolerable. Finally caved and took a couple ibuprofen. That at least made sitting tolerable. I have no idea what I did. I just remember not feeling this as I went to sleep last night. Now I think the ibuprofen is wearing off. Time to scoot home and re-dose.

Have to rn through the paces with Cindy again and see of there was something that did some latent damage. Could just be leftovers from grouting the tile. All bent over, reaching under the cabinets, stretching and trying to exert pressure on the mud � more strenuous than you�d think. Maybe once I got into bed it tightened up. I dunno. OW. I�ll give it a few days to loosen up. If it doesn�t, I�ll go see Dr. B and get it checked out. I just hate to think of back issues starting at MY tender young age. OW.

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