Thoughts from a fuzzy mind

I haven't slept well for the past couple of nights... It's pretty normal for me to have a sleepless night every once in a while, and I do my best to not have them on consecutive days (Ambien is your friend!). Unfortunately, nothing I could've done the past couple of days could have been enough to get me to sleep through this set.

This morning, I was stirred awake by the guitar intro for Matthew Sweet's song, Girlfriend. That's Amy's ringtone, and at that hour simply cannot be not a good sign. Turns out that somebody ran into a curb and blew up the tire on the passenger side front. I'm a bit baffled that someone can have a driver's license for more than twenty years and still not really know how to change a tire. Oh, well, that got me out of the apartment for a while this morning so that I could get a new tire mounted and a cup of coffee from Starbucks. I'm a bit wired now, as this is about the first caffeine I've had in about three months.

In other news, the folks at StangMods.com were wonderful in their help with getting the failed sequential tail lights that I bought from them replaced. They did such a good job with the customer service end of that I went and bought some chrome tail light frames from them. Hopefully, I will have those in the next few days. If you've got a Mustang and need mods, I recommend them.

I also bought a pasta machine this week. I'm so happy that I have that again and don't have to buy frozen ravioli or tortelli anymore. Nothing is better than home made... not to mention it's just plain cheaper to make than to buy a high-quality semolina pasta. More people should try it.

From the weather man, we have the excitement of spring on the Front Range. I find it amusing to no end that we can have a 70-degree day followed by a foot of snow. I wonder how they're able to quantify snowfall around here, though. The wind out here is strong enough that I think the vast majority of the snow which falls in Colorado Springs actually lands somewhere in central Kansas. After our foot of snow last weekend, we had 70 degree days just about every day this week.

With the 70 degree days, I had the opportunity to get my bike out and go for a ride. I've discovered that being out of shape at sea level can't hold a candle to being out of shape here. Elevation changes on the trails make for a near heart attack on most rides. I've also discovered that one needs about 15 times the water up here just to maintain hydration and keep from having a headache so all-encompassing that it feels like one's head will actually explode.

Anyhow... that's news, weather and sports from Colorado Springs. I really ought to post more often so that I don't wind up spewing forth this much junk in one spot.

Update, 10:25 MDT
Amy tells me that she can change a tire, but that the lug nuts were on too tight and she couldn't get them loose. That's fair enough, I suppose.

Still could've used a bit more sleep versus geting tires.

Back in the saddle!

For the first time since last spring's wreck, I got back in the saddle. The discovery that while I'm not 100% flatlander anymore, I'm still flatlander enough (and out of shape enough) that hopping on the bicycle in the rarified Colorado air took a lot more out of me than I expected. I will say that riding along the trails at Garden of the Gods is a heck of a lot prettier than anything I rode along in Pennsylvania.

I also got around to trying cycling pants... They don't look like the really tight things that nobody needs to see me in. Instead, they look like a normal pair of cargo shorts. It's a bit odd to walk around with that padding in the crotch. It feels a bit like I'd imagine it would if I were to pinch one off in my boxers. On the other hand, it does make the saddle on my bike a damn sight more comfortable... Especially when bouncing along a somewhat uneven trail. I may buy a couple more pairs of those.