Soggy Shoes

Well times got rough after I was laid off and I really didn't want to go back to work as a government contractor, freelance was slow and I need an immediate income. So I applied to this big box (more like a rectangle shaped) retail store, and was hired for seasonal work.

Well with my luck, it was a very HOT summer and my job was to water the plants, exciting huh? In my mind, I thought it wouldn't be a bad job. It would keep my sweaty ass cool but I didn't plan on the chilly spring mornings and having the cold water splash up on me. It seemed, I had to go to the bathroom, every 15 minutes. I also ended up with soggy shoes. I would always water the plants closest to me first and then reach in the back for the other plants. Doing this method, the front plants would drip onto my shoes and make my shoes soggy. It's so much fun to walk around the rest of the days with soggy shoes, that make that soggy noise and them lil bubbles form at the base of your shoe. After a while the soggy shoes become stinky shoes and they end up drying inside the garage.

This store is dog friendly and it's odd to me that it is because what if a person is afraid of dogs or is allergic to dogs? I wouldn't shop there if this was me or I'd be more reluctant in going there to shop. Now I have seen people come in with all sizes of dogs, pups to poodles, great danes, golden retrievers, boxers, pugs, bull dogs, and my favorite, boston terriers. I have also saw a woman come in with her big white poodle and the poodles toe nails were painted pink. I also saw a woman come in with her cat in one of those cat stroller and in a cat backpack. I even saw a woman driving, the store's motorized scooter and in the scooter's basket was a ferret. A little weird, huh?

I have met some really nice people, talked to the odd people, encountered rude people, and shook my head in disbelief with the people who had no common sense (and you can tell who they are after a while). I can't tell you how many times, the hose caused an issue with shopping carts and the attitudes I would get when they couldn't get past them. At first they smash the cart into the hose line. Back up a little and smash into it again, and then stand there like "what should I do now?" look on their face. I mean you have four options. One, you could go down another aisle, two, you could tilt the cart up and get the front wheels over it and do the same with the back, three, you can ram the hose with speed and force and four, you can pick the hose up and scoot under the hose to get by. I figured, this happened at least 3-4 times a day, people would get stuck at the hose line. I had one guy tell me, "if I didn't extend it that far, it wouldn't been an issue". It was only an issue because your 10 year old son had a hard time pushing the cart with 2 bags of 40 pounds of dirt, of course the hose line would be a problem and you let the boy struggle in getting it over the line. My other favorite moment was when a guy called me to the back of the garden because he "had a problem" with his flat bed cart. At this point in time, his cart was empty and he pointed to the hose line and said that the hose was in his way. I walked over to the cart and pushed it over the hose and walked away, saying nothing and biting my tongue. A few minutes later, he comes over to me again and said he needed help. I figured in lifting the bags since the cart was too heavy for him to push over the hose line but instead the cart had 3 bags of mulch and it was stopped in front of the hose. He says, "this is a problem, it's in my way again". I said as politely as I could, "then go around the other way, it won't be in your way" and I walked away again. But as I walked away, I heard his father say the same thing to him and also said to him in annoyed voice, you called him over for that!?

So I wear this non-breathable vest at work. To me, it's like wearing a sweater vest in the summer. I sweat a lot and in this vest it is the worst. So I still have people come up to me and ask, "do you work here?" Are you kidding me!?!?!? No, I always wearing vest when I go out shopping! The name of the store is on the vest & on the back of the vest. How about, "Hi, my name is Jim. How can I help you?" What do you think that's my pick-up-line? I mean come on, I can understand if you said, "do you work in this department?" But no, it was do you work here? Now in the past, I have shopped at Target and wore a red shirt, I had people come up to me and ask where something was or better yet, one time at Walmart, I was pushing, the cart with my son in it and this lady came up to me and asked if I worked there? Really!? I wasn't wearing a blue shirt or vest (I can't remember what they wear there) and I'm pushing my kid in a cart How can you confuse me with one of the workers? But a funny thing happened after she walked away, my son NP says to me, "Daddy, who was that man you were talking to?" I laughed and told him it was a woman.

So after the season ended, they offered me a part time job there and I took it. They saw I was a hard worker, did what needed to get done and I always went above and beyond of what they asked me and I was reliable. It's been a year now and since I'm freelancing again, I switched to working nights. So lately, I have been working 10 hour days, with two jobs and I either work the whole weekend (which sucks) or one day on the weekend. Needless to say, I'm too tired to ride my bicycle and the weather this winter hasn't been great. It has rained a lot and we only had 2 snowstorms. The trails are soggy and I don't want to destroy them by riding on them and the roads are littered with potholes, puddles and some left over snow. I haven't been to the gym, because I'm working plus, I have been lifting a lot of rock salt and wood pellets this winter and doing that is like constantly doing shoulders, back, legs and arms workouts.

In order to get back into shape, I plan on joining a new gym, get a trainer and get back into shape. I figured, if I got a trainer, that will motivate me and get me to be a regular again at the gym and the new gym is within biking distance. It seems like what I say, I'll do is always different then what I actually do, So we'll see.

Take care,
db

Making Strides

    Well a lot of time has past since the last time I wrote something. My twin boy's aren't so little anymore, they are 6 years old and are in kindergarten. I bought them both a red Strider Balance bike for Christmas. I of course, I was more excited to get it, for them and of course they weren't as excited to receive it. It figures. Since it was the winter, we let them ride, the balance bike, inside the house. NP quickly got the hang of it and zipped all thru the rooms, chasing his brother. JJ had more fun running along side his brother or being the one chased down. I made sure, I taught them the proper safety of wearing a helmet. I won a Specialized helmet in a raffle, a size small, so I gave it to NP to use. What other 3 year old, do you know, rides around on a balance bike, wearing a $200 helmet... inside the house?

    The bike riding inside the house, had to stop because NP was marking up the walls with the tires. So when, the winter and snow, finally disappeared, I took NP outside to ride and he did really well and was even more, fast as hell, on the sidewalk. If someone was mechanically inclined, they could probably install a rear brake lever on the bike, so the lil people, can easily adjust to this sort of braking style, than to Fred Flintstone, their stops. NP quickly outgrew his balance bike and JJ still showed no interest in the balance bike but enjoyed running alongside his brother instead. I of course, lost the battle of taking NP to the bike shop to buy him "real" big boy bike and settled (or lost the battle) and got him a Huffy Disney Planes Dusty bike. He zipped along using that bike but had a hard time adjusting to the coaster brake because, he would still put his feet down to stop himself, which didn't work well, when the pedals mashed into his little calfs. Here's where the idea, of installing a rear brake lever, on this type of bike would probably benefit the most.

    So hopefully this summer, I'll be able to buy him a "real" big boy bike from my bike shop. I'm eyeing, the Cannondale Trail 20 Single-speed bike and I'm loving the green and blue combo, I just hope he likes it too!

    I'm still riding the Turner 5 Spot and still in love with it. I can, finally see the difference with the 29er bikes but still can't let go, of my 26er. The big wheel moving over everything and being much quicker, but I'm still reading, you still can't get that "flick-ability" of a 26er. I could be wrong, and I'm sure, there is some 29er brand out there, that would prove me wrong but what price, as in, how much money, will you have to pay out, to get that "flick-ability" back?

    Single-speed is not my thing. Nothing against those, who can do it, I just like gears and breathing normal. I have tried it and found out, real quick, how out-of-shape, I was on the trails. I want to hear the birds chirping and wind whooshing thru the trees and not hear my heart pounding or feel like i'm going to puke up, all that water, I just drank.

    Fat bikes... really? I can't stand them. To me, it looks ridiculous and I feel like that person is flaunting, that they have, that much more $$$ to burn. I can see if you live in Alaska or Boston and get a tremendous amount of snow and need to ride in 4 to 8 inches of snow but to see them riding around on flat, rocky, or rooty trails... come on!!

    Well that's all, I got for now. Be safe out there and happy trails.

5 Days a Week

    well not quite 5 days this week, 3 so far but this summer i have been getting more ride time in during the weekdays, than the weekends. the rides are lasting from 2 hrs or 45 minutes, my range is huge because of the daylight i'm losing. i still didn't plunker down money for lights, not just yet. i'm still not sure whether i want to drain my money clip with HID lights. time will tell, more like me getting the urge to spend.

    i have met A LOT of people this season riding. i'm a lil bit more sociable and invite people to come riding with me or try to join them. i have been riding for about 15 yrs now, and by no means a pro or an expert but still an intermediate rider. i really don't mind it. i like looking around, checking out the what trees the beavers are trying to chop down, spottin' deer, yelling at the rabbits to make up ther minds and get off my trail or just plain ol' talking to myself. who the hell cares. my job causes so much stress at times, that i look forward to ride and unwind and not rush or race others.

    i like to call myself a technical rider, i really like to think that but i know i'm no where near that skill set. at times, i bash thru the obstacles, no finesse is used. my logs skills are ok, after 15yrs, i still can't bunny-hop over them nor pull a wheelie intentionally. man, i would love to learn how to do a nose wheelie, on purpose and not followed by me OTB.

    i got a new toy, the garmin 305. wish i could use it on my mac. i always want these new gadgets but never really learn the full potential of them, god i hope that doesn't make me a poser.

i know i'm rambling, so take care and be good to yer bike.

happy trails
~dirty bert