ALTERRA!

 Yes today was the Alterra Coffee Bean Classic. First a few picks from the Hank Aaron trail work. Alterra actually raised money to purchase some of the right of ways for this trail as I understand it.

The light was in my eyes.

Ride into the Light!

People just don't know how to cross a street anymore. A ramped overpass under construction.

Somewhere in this photo is the one called Bubba, hero of trail building lore. If you don't know which he is there's no help for you. And there are always plenty of friends of the four legged kind at any WORS event...except where they are banned. Will discrimination never end?

One known simply as Dave enjoyed this piece of Heaven attributed to Kevin. A little hike to get to one of my favorite parts of the trail. After twisting and turning, up and down, a sharp quick rise and then another a bit longer. Where I chose to set up and catch most of the Sport racers.

Talk about riding tall in the saddle.

My first nemesis was holding the rear and made me regret not racing, seeing him and others struggling the slow and steady. He takes a nice picture. They walking parts I never need to walk. Didn't see any of my old rivals on the series standings but plenty were there today. And it I know I could beat them. Saving some $25 was more important right now. Some of smart mouth asked if I raced the Citizen class. I'll have to start wearing my kicking boots for just such occasions.

Used my super zoom capabilities to save some climbing. I was up there earlier and found it extremely windy. The super zoom doesn't produce the best photo but any mishap reads well no matter what the quality. I'll try to get the photos up on my Flick'r account and post the link on the WORS message board when I'm done. Haven't been there in a long time. I imagine everyone still has complaints about passing. What else would they post about.

Got this all done while watching "Casino Royale" on TV. Nothing beats the DVD.

It's Just Like Work

Yes, trying to get the book completed is taking up my days and keeping me late into the night. Just like designing and creating construction documents for a building you have to put all the pieces together so they work, and create something inspiring. The difference is I do not need a site or a client to produce anything I desire. Yes I could design a building out of thin air, but with no way to complete it, no real user group to make happy or inspire, the wind really gets sucked out of your sails.

But I have my own sites and buildings to work with. This old house we live in now and my property up north. A means to complete that and I'll be off with no stopping. Nice shows on Architecture lat night on PBS. Letrobe and Wright in Buffalo.

Most likely wont get to the Alterra Coffee Bean Classic until the Sport race. They sent me a coupon for a free pound of coffee for my birthday last month. Hope to get some good pictures. Should get out to ride this evening. Maybe take some snaps of the work on the Hank Arron State Bike Trail. Should make sure the batteries on the camera are charged. Will make a doctors appointment this week.

Production

Plenty of tomatoes and cucumbers coming out of the garden. The Peaches are just about ready. A little small this year despite all the rain. I have to treat the tree this autumn. Take in some more salvage this week for a bit of cash to pay for some roof repairs. I wish e-bay would pay off. I don't know why people will pick 'watch this (my) item' and then unpick it. If I pick 'watch this item' I just let the item finish without changing that feature. Just don't have the same kind of luck as this guy. A custom Landis bike for $5.

The riding...? Went out today. The Hoyt Trail is blocked with downed trees. I have an Architecture ride planned to snap some photos for one of my other blogs. I rode my bike to the Walker rally last week and found lots of other bicyclers there. On the way a black cat crossed my path with a tiny baby rabbit hanging from its mouth. I am currently not planning to race as I think it wise to see the doctor first with the way I have been feeling. Not when I ride, but at other times I've had some problems. Was good to get out today.

I will be at Crystal Ridge this weekend to take some photos of the Alterra Classic. The future of Crystal Ridge is in question, but someone started a You/Tube site that should help keep the course for the current user group. Makes me want to race, but the money is tight too. And the weight is still too high. Besides, checking the race results when I was at the Sunburst Showdowns I didn't recognize any names. Sort of takes the kick out of competition when your traditional rivals are no longer there. The Border Battle went well for Wisconsin again.

They have what they call rubber glove toe socks for people to run barefoot so to speak. They say it strengthens your ankles and lower legs better. Strength training that suffers when wearing sports shoes. When you work out of our house most of the day it is easy to be outright barefoot more than not. I guess that is a good thing.

Actually completing the book, getting something actually produced, is good for the soul. Production breeds production. Not always easy to accomplish with limited funds that cannot even approach the demands of what you have to get done. I think I took my book as far as it can go. A bit of confusion going on with Create Space but I only need to proof read my work a couple of times and I think it is ready to put into PDF, which hopefully will go smoothly. And then the book will go to market. So all my activities are benefiting from this endeavor. Except the riding. Have to get out more and to the gym.

I changed my profile picture. Maybe I'll use it for the book. And life guard dogs are so cute. And if you buy a kindle from this link I will get a commission. Not to mention, with a kindle you can download hundreds of great books for free. Anything printed before 1923.

THE HORROR! or, Our Trip to the Fair

Yes, there was no cream puff line. The first time in years we went to the Fair and when we got to the cream puff line there was none. Usually one would make several weaves through long stretches of what ever they call those barriers to get to the cream puff window. We simply walked up to order. And no young country folk working frantically to keep up with the demand. Racks sitting full of cream puffs. And talking to others and seeing a news shot on the nightly news it was the same. What has happened to America. And no discounts to spur demand. The horror.

A pig with a multitude of piglets suckling with great vigor and some how I managed to miss them all. No small animals when we were there like rabbits or ducks or the such.

We rested briefly to enjoy a bit of steeple chase before moving on.

Big American style tractor.

Christmas in August? At least they had the Fair theme with all the farm animals. We didn't buy the standard $20 product from any of the multitude of vendors. Only one ladder manufacturer, unlike other years, and they didn't have anything that would help me in the roof repairs. Maybe I'll have to rent some scaffolding. I guess no one is buying hot tubs these days as they were everywhere at the Fair. Not sure how many green houses they sold but that's some nice green house. Misao called me embarrassing after my third trip to the Ocean Spray table to get a free sample. While at the Coke Zero promotion they said "Take as many as you like."

So what's going on with the Fair? No tiny animals. No one buying cream puffs. I'm not sure but I know one thing. "The bees know." Yes, we stopped by the beekeepers display. I miss my bees and think I know what they know. But how could I know. We didn't buy any honey. I was surprised at the excitement with which Misao pulled out all her cash and money from stashes to spend at the Fair. I felt bad we have been skipping it these many years. Still we kept ourselves from spending too much.

Misao found this character extremely amusing...

And she demanded we see everything. For those who like the flowers this was part of the DNR forest, part of the Fair grounds.

Here we have the Purple Loosestrife, an invasive species from Europe threatening the diversity of our regional ecosystem. I can tell you that the bees really love this stuff and the frames will fill quickly with sweet honey when in bloom. And talk about HORROR! They put a net around the invasive species and fill it with beetles that love to eat the Purple Loosestrife. This is just like the movie "The Mummy" where they put the guy in the sarcophagus with the flesh eating beetles. Good movie.

And don't think that the bees don't know.

This is the access I created to get to my roof to do the repairs. But it was still too hot and I didn't spend long up there. Taking a few measurements and looking to buy more materials. And talk about horror, they say the humidity is returning. I have to decide if I am going to remove this bush that has been seriously dieing back. Serious yard work to come as the prime time for weeds is passing and the prime time for grass is arriving, as well as cooler temperatures.

And talk about jobs, we saw this guy when leaving the Fair. I looked them up on the Internet and asked if they needed help, but haven't heard anything back. Without finding a job or suddenly getting massive amounts of sales on e-bay, unlikely, our last chance to avoid bankruptcy will most likely be the publishing of my book. Even cutting back on my free poker tournaments to save money on gas since I haven't repaired my road bike yet. The way the furnace sounded last year I can't afford to have no way to pay for a new one if it totally breaks down this Winter. Now it may be as late as the end of September before my book is available. I am shooting for mid-September to have it published AND marketed. They said November, using their paid service, so I cut them off and am going strictly self-publishing, having to give them the properly formatted PDF's...

How do you make a PDF?

I am sure there is a lot of checking and rechecking, just like in architecture, an endless process of making corrections and changes, in order to get a great product but I have near everything complete, well refined, including a cover design and questioned why they said mid-November, especially when considering some comments the editor wrote on the first of my two stories in the book.

They used to have sign boards telling you the proper way to eat a cream puff, but no more. What's going on with the Fair?

Dead Tired

Tired is the word of the day. Of many a day now. Haven't been feeling that well. Don't know if it is the heat or something else. Some say it has never been so hot. I remember frequent days over 100 quite well when I was much much younger. Temperatures we haven't reached. But I don't recall it ever being this humid for this long. Misao likes it. She says it is like Japan.

Three days of riding and then a trip to the gym today. Got in my walking and then felt a bit uneasy so I walked more and skipped any strength training. Oppressive humidity slows the pace but have gotten to several tasks despite the heat. One secret to putting up with the humid temperatures, especially when most of your house is not air conditioned, is to scrub well every time you bath. One of those long plastic like rough wash clothes to get rid of all the gunk coming out of your pores. Listen and learn young people. Why pay good money for a sauna when your house is one.

We have a free ticket to the fair so we need only buy one. Keeping it to a single cob of corn each and splitting a cream puff. I liked it when they had all the animals the entire fair. Now you have to check the schedule to see what animals you will be missing. Misao has found the rabbits in our yard like to eat breakfast cereal. She enjoys seeing them in the yard.... and fattening them up. We're going to miss the rabbits at the fair I think.

Dead tired, wondering if that cold ever really left me, I pulled myself out of bed this morning. Trying to make myself a cup of coffee the phone rang and I answered, eyes crossed. The copy edit on my book was done and later I looked over the edits and editors notes briefly. Pleasantly surprised on a confirmation of what I thought/hoped the work was. In brief, well developed and flows well with a spattering of mechanical issues. Have I ever mentioned that I do well at everything I invest myself in. Will go over it in detail tomorrow before we go to the fair in the afternoon. Maybe the pressure of waiting for the copy edit tired me out.

I guy I know at the gym promised to buy a copy of my book when it is done, and gave me a lead on another odd job. Then he said someone could take my book and put it up on the Internet so people wont need to buy it. Why he said that is unclear to me but with some security issues I've had with my computer it is something that has crossed my mind more than once. And I see the Mormons have a new ad campaign, showing themselves just to be ordinary people. Lets face it, lots of people liked Mitt Romney but his chances were/are very slim to none to become President  because he is a Mormon. After 150 years and still having to try to convince people you're normal. You can imagine how it would be if your religion were only 50 years old.

Not clear on how the marketing works but my book will be available as an e-book. And if you don't have a Kindle, see the image and link. I put out real money to get a proper hair cut for a profile photo. Then found studios are really expensive for poor folk like us, so will have to take one myself. Got some photography tips from the guy who is working on the book cover. Most important, full zoom and the background should be twice as far away from you as the camera so the camera focuses on your image. Sunrise or sunset and use the flash.

The publishing costs are squeezing me but I qualified for a larger free poker tournament and if I do well, and get lucky, winnings will guaranty no delays. And a new tire for my road bike. $190 in on the book and hoping to keep the additional costs under $750. I have another book started and am outlining three more.

The humidity is supposed to break next week. I hope to get out to ride much more. I was falling a sleep at last nights mountain bike meeting. Haven't been keeping on top of things. The Ore to Shore bike race is this weekend. Same time as the poker tournament. I couldn't afford to travel anyway. Will have to update the issues and activities of meeting lore my next post. You'll have to read one of my other blogs to learn of any poker glory I may or may not achieve.

A man at the poker table once asked what is the greatest cause of death in the world. He claimed religion. I said, its people deciding who's saved or not. As if one could speak for God.

State Fair

Yes, State Fair started today. We hope to go this year. It has been quite a few years since we went and our financials are not any better but it will be a treat for Misao. And I want to see what kind of ladder systems that may be useful for fixing my roof. Always plenty of things for sale. I haven't been up there, the roof, as it has been very hot... and much of it is asphalt based.

Lots of rain these last two months and looking at my exercise log not much riding. I went out riding today. It didn't feel like I hadn't ridden in over a week which was encouraging. The Hoyt trails need a bit more drying out. A bit of yard work, but mostly reading, wriding and riting today. Will ride early tomorrow. Not much errand running or going to the gym as my old beat up road bike is too beat up to ride.

Here is the river in its natural state. A wider view than the flood picture of previous post. They claim 700 year flood,  but that is just to cover for their poor infrastructure management. Throwing money at people for votes instead of taking care of the mundane. Sewers overloaded polluting the lake. Bridges falling apart. Always claiming they have to cut basic services and raise taxes. And this mayor did nothing that he promised to do six years ago MMSD is still the same and the flooding is still bad. Democrats.

Plenty of cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden. Soon we will be getting peppers and then the peaches. I pulled up all the patio stones to remove all the weeds coming up in the cracks. If my book sells I'll have a big bar-B-Q. My yearly bar-B-Q was the first casualty of loosing my job, now over six years ago. A leg of lamb and other assorted meats. And if no one comes it's just more meat for me. Those weak minded vegetarians and vegans are welcome too. ...I just don't know what they're going to eat.

Yes, my e-mails seem vulnerable again, stalkers, haters, thieves and/or just plain no goods just can't leave a man be. But I am sure if I had any serious security problems, or issues like being blacklisted, people who know would let me know, differentiating themselves from the scum. Just keep changing my passwords. I heard that a data bank system is in the works to protect peoples information/work on the Internet.

Heard this is a good book. Highly recommended by the radio talk show crowd. Yes, I get a commission if you buy off this link. And, yes the earlier typos were by intention.