This is … *sniff* … absolutely beautiful. As only the leader in technology infused with the brightest of souls could bring us beauty. It makes me want to dream … the impossible dream …
Go Honda! Old School!
The link up there is a video, natch. SFW of course. Sound helps.
Hoo boy, been bad recently. I waited weeks to get the front wheel chock for my road bike while it’s on the trainer. I finally got it Monday night, and popped out a quick 10k this morning after a conference call. It’s a fan-based trainer — the CycleOps “Wind” model — which I picked up at the NJ bike show a while back. Got it for a steal, $75, which is pretty much at cost.
I owe the folks at Pedal Pushers Online a write-up, so don’t let me forget. For now, it did it’s job but it was loud as hell as I was trying to watch the Colbert Report! Had to turn the volume all the way up. Still, the wind/fan bit kept my ass nice and cool.
I need to get re-fit on the Cannondale R1000 (my road bike). My package is killing me, due to lack of circulation. I need that package! So yeah, 10 km this am, just enough to get warmed up. More tonight when I get back from the EMT class.
Think I’m gonna ride in tonight … on the moto …
Kudos to the Scratch This gang under the skilled management of The Tim, for another win last night. Here are the details!
GREETINGS!
Tonight we had the best win we have had all year, and definitely the most important.
At the start of the night, the standings were:
1st place team – 33 points
2nd place (us) – 30 points
3rd place – 29 points
4th place – 29 points
5th place – 29 points
6th place – 29 points
7th place – 28 points
8th place – 28 points
As you can see, things are a little bunched up. We’re in 2nd place, but we’re 3 points from being in 8th place.
Heather started off the night by beating her opponent (a 2) in 2 straight games, and with REALLY good shots and leaves to win EACH game. Absolute wins of skill, not happenstance or luck, but good shot-making. Truly excellent job.
The next match Chin-Jin played one of their 3’s. Well, he won 2 games, lost the 3rd, won the next 2 and brought it to the rubber match, which he lost by about a half-inch. That is definitely the problem with playing 3’s, no matter WHAT your ranking is you are always THIS CLOSE to getting beaten. A bad bounce here, a bad shot there, POOF!
Kimba wanted to play next, and as all this team seemed to have was 3’s, he also had to play one of them. He crushed in the first 3 games and then hit a couple of bumps. Once again, a 3 plays well, a few things go awry and Kimba also manages to get beaten. Insanity!
BUT (cue 80’s sports movie music montage)
After some consultation between me, Yorgo, and Roger, Yorgo rightfully decided to play last and Roger volunteered to sit out. My turn to stop the bleeding. Scary! I managed to win my first 2 games against MY 3, and despite some rather tense moments in my 3rd game – which I played not nearly as well – I prevailed. Thanks to Heather’s opening win, we’re tied 2-2.
Yorgo then had to go up against – that’s right – a 3! Gah! This is getting tiresome. He played the first 3 games in a nearly picture-perfect mix of aggression and defensive shots. Like a well-oiled Bavarian motorcycle. In the 4th game, Yorgo got a little off his game and his rhythm, and all of a sudden we’re back to the rubber game of the last match and entire night. It was hard-fought and tense and troubling and….. Yorgo won. The night belongs to us, 3-2.
With 6 teams within 2 points behind us and our best 2 players already having been beaten, we STILL won the match.
In 1986 when Davey Johnson took over the Mets, he started spring training by telling his team one thing: We are not just going to win, we are quite simply going to dominate the league and no one has a chance against us. It was unheard of to tell a team that so early in the season. But that’s what I’m telling all of you guys now. The season has 6 weeks left, with 1 bye week (The night of April 11th we have NO POOL). Tonight we proved that in the next 5 matches, we can – and will – beat any team in any situation. With the flexibility that Heather gives us, already being in 2nd place with Kimba and Chin-Jin starting VERY slowly for them, Yorgo’s almost scary determination, and a solid stable of 4’s (um, that would be me, Rog, and our secret assassin Jacob) we are going to the playoffs. And we will dominate.
p.s. As an aside, after this match, I was looking for my sweatshirt and sweater for my ride home. And, they were nowhere. I was just reazling my stuff had been stolen when….. a drunk lady walked by wearing them. She could have simply WALKED OFF after she had picked them up earlier, but she was such a drunk she had to get another drink and come sit down 5 feet from me wearing my stuff. She then shreiked and swore when I yelled at her to get it back 7 or 8 times but actually (most likely in fear of getting kicked out and losing her drink) managed to give it back to me. Maybe she knew Roger’s drunk.
ANYHOW, crazy night, but good stuff all around.
Looking forward to next week! We play the Edge team at the Edge Bar.
Well, it’s not exactly “funny”, but since we got rid of the “You have GOT to see THIS!!!” department, this is the closest we’ve got. Apparently there’s a juggler named Chris Bliss … and apparently he’s got some mind-blowingly l33t skillz0rz. If you’ve got a few minutes, watch his finale. Your mind will be blown. Be sure you have audio so you can hear the Beatles medley he does his routine to.
Well, it was bound to happen. With the help of a great friend, I was able to put some of the EMT skills I’ve been learning to the test. This past weekend, from 6pm Saturday night to 6am Sunday morning to be exact, I did a ride-along with the Morris Minute Men. They’re a volunteer ambulance corps in Morris Township, NJ. It was … awesome!
Due to excellent laws and regulations such as HIPAA, I can’t mention any of the details of the patient calls we went on, but I can say that we had three. The first one came within 10 minutes of my arrival — so I was good luck right off the bat! We did two back-to-back, then had our third and final call in the wee hours of the morning.
I was able to help out on the calls by taking vital signs, moving equipment (sorry for dropping that stretcher when we were deploying, Mark), and reassuring some patients. The night really brought home why the skills we’re learning are important, and why I’m doing this. We helped people. That’s the best reason, hands down.
Can’t wait for my next shift!
Apparently this is my bud Mike’s theme song … he really likes beer. Be warned, it’s VERY LOUD, but AFAICT it’s work-safe. This would be an excellent Bardo Theme Song as well. 
Oh, and check this out … my bud Wintle found a pic someone took from my bedroom the other day. Danged paparazzi!!
Haethcyn, the Unkempt Viking, reports from Alexandria Innova Hospital that this morning, at 8:37am, a little baby girl was born weighing 7lbs 9oz and 19inches long. Mama Valkyrie is great, but very tired, having been pumped full o’ meds.
The new-once-again Viking Parents haven’t picked a name yet, which I think means that they want us, their closest friends, to come up with some really nifty suggestions for them! Email me suggestions.
No word yet on room numbers, visiting, etc. Congrats!
I almost never enjoy a sit-down lunch here in NYC. When I’m working in the office, as opposed to home, my preferred MO is to nab something quick (sandwich, salad, soup) and munch away at my desk while working or playing online. You know, prime blogging time. 
But the past two days have seen me out and about, at two different places. Both were great for lunch — I highly recommend.
Yesterday, a potential partner took me and an AM out for sushi buffet, at Minado. Apparently this is a chain; the closest one to my Midtown office is on E 32nd @ 5th Ave. This place is amazing! The sushi buffet is about 30 feet long, and double that if you include hot dishes and hors d’ouevres. I wolfed down some excellent raw fish (mostly tuna and salmon, in various different guises and levels of spicitude, but they have a great selection for the more adventurous). Very fresh, good quality sushi here, and the lunch price can’t be beat (13.95 for all you care to eat). I’ll be going back.
And today, I had a lunch date, so I took her out to Marseille. I chose it on a whim, since it’s close to the office, and looks a bit like a Parisian cafe I once visited. It’s a dead ringer, now that I’ve been there in person, and the food was quite good. An excellent spot for a quiet conversation, and it also looks good for a nice pre-theatre dinner.
The word from Mighty Tim:
That would be a 5-0 shutout and of the opponent tonight, and they were a pretty good team. The word is spreading – people are nervous about the new power on Tuesday night.
Win #1: Vikrum, who kept his streak going at Dempsey’s with a win over a 4, the ever-entertaining Darrin.
Win #2: Heather, in her VERY FIRST pool league win! She eked it out in the last game but even in the 2 games she lost she look it right to the end.
Win #3: Kimba played (and crushed) the xanaxerrific Will Exposito. Will’s horrified reaction when he learned Kimba was his opponent said it all.
Win #4: Yorgo played THEIR 5 – their captain. Yorgo shot so well and got into his head so badly that he basically made the guy fold up like a cheap tent.
Win #5: That would be me. I actually had it pretty easy, playing and winning all 3 games against a 3 who really had nothing. Nice guy, though.
We are doing well, and hitting our stride. Next week should be fun as well as we make some other team scared like 2nd-graders in a 5th-grade gym class.
Want to see sum’n funny? How about President Bush roasting Jeff Foxworthy? Ripped shamelessly from Comedy Central, and not hosted by me … go ahead and check it out. This impersonator is aMAZing.
