I Ride & I Slide On Asphalt

We all have bikes. The wonderfully cool, young, hip people in our circle of friends have bikes that we can now ride en masse like a San Francisco Cat Alley Race except we're in Houston. We plan to take the ruckus to the streets of H-Town somewhere near Ben Taub Hospital just in case anyone in our posse gets assaulted or run-over. In my case I may have to just catch a ride with the paramedics and hang out the passenger window to get the feel of riding bikes because I can't go 100 ft. without doing a rolling face plant on the pavement. Seriously.

For the past 10 years or so during my time in the saddle I've been somewhat attached to the bicycle. But now, after some modifications I'm as attached to the bike as Ben Hur is to the galley of his sinking ship. So if this ship is asinkin, so am I, not Ben Hur. Being clipped into the pedals is a new experience I have to get used to. Several times I forgot this fact while riding. Here's a scene typical of our ride the other day. I'm riding along like a pro all suave-like when Lily and her lady friend decide to suddenly stop just off the track to drink water. I think, "okay, I can take five, after all even the best of the best needs to rest."

I start to slow down, I come to a complete stop, lean over to put my foot down....not working....I'm still leaning but nothing's holding me up....wha!??....MY FOOT IS STILL CLIPPED IN! I then topple right over and crash onto the ground scraping the skin off my lower right leg while my face does a sort of scoop action drag through the dirt and finally settles a few inches from impact. It takes a few seconds to register the pain, then the fact that I just fell flat from a complete stop, then the humiliation of falling in front of girls so I lay there seeking sympathy.

This happens twice that day.

I hear the lady friend say the second time, "I think your husband just fell again." She then asks me inquisitively after I get up and brush off, "Why do you keep falling? Aren't you supposed to be some sort pro at this?"

But I am! I say. I'm just not used to being clipped in!

Actually I'm not a pro in the least bit. I couldn't keep up on a training day peloton if I tried, which I did try sometime ago that's a story waiting in the queue.

The ride goes on and we all finally make it to our start and quietly pack and plan to return this weekend.

In other news: this post has been in draft for three days now so alot has happened since Monday morning. I've sworn to myself that if I survive summer of 2009 and manage to hold on to my job I will stand up at the next town hall meeting and ask for a moment of recognition be given to all the talented young people/friends we've/I've lost while working here. Every week another dear friends' desk is left empty because of being laid off, or technically speaking-reduction in workforce. It's getting to be very depressing. Everything is getting to be very depressing. I had to stop reading The Stand because the reality of it all was just too much for me to handle right now. I actually couldn't sleep some nights after having spent a few hours reading through chapters of surreal horror, the scenes permeated through my mind and saturated my dreams with friends and family around me disappearing leaving me alone in a deserted city.

I have to stop writing blogs mid paragraph about happenings all around the world that effect me to the point of building an opinion and attempting to voice it out loud because if I start writing about crimes & injustice, when and where does it stop? Do I really want this haven in pezrealian to be a reflection of all that's wrong in this world? I don't and I won't let it. But I do see the irony of posting this weekend's party highlights and yet across the earth in China a family loses a breadwinning son amist riots and ethnic hatred so I think, "why bother?" Why try? How can I live a life in denial of what's coming? Is it coming? Don't know. For now though it's just one day at a time.

The Coriolis Effect and West Africa Explained Here

The Coriolis effect: You know the pattern that's the result of Earth's spin? What causes weather patterns to churn off West Africa? Well it seems Earth has it's own Lady DJ behind the booth spinning lp's of her own. I'm a really busy guy these days so this post will just have to do for now.

Optimus Awesomus II

Was driving to work one morning listening to 104.1 KRBE. Dj announces caller number 10 gets tickets to see a Sneak Peak of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Monday night June 22, 2009. I dial the phone number with my eyes on the road & at my cell phone, it's busy, I'm busy. I call again, still busy. I'm going to die trying.

"Damn, everybody in the whole of Houston must be doing the same thing."

I dial a third time and get a ring tone. A girl answers. YES! I win free tickets to see a most awesome movie next week. Strangely, the radio station needs my social security number and other information. I second guess myself and think I've called the wrong number but I didn't, it's for tax purposes she says.

We get to the movie theater after accidently going to the wrong theater all the way in town, 30 minutes late puts us all the way at the back of the line that's already 200 deep. Despite this, we get in. Seated in the very front. Everyone's excited. The guy next to me just can't stop giggling like a teenaged girl at a Jonas Bros. Concert. I sympathize with him though because after all it's free. It's Transformers 2. It's 2 hours long.

The most ridiculously awesome two hours of morphing machines slicing steel I've had since the very first Matrix. Repeatedly it was like opening a box filled with some sort of divinity and hearing a chorus of voices sing aloud announcing the grandeur below. Yes, it was that good. Yes, it was a Michael Bay film. The same guy who does movies like Armageddon, Bad Boys & The Rock but these films aren't meant for the Oscars. They're meant for pure adrenaline, sphincter squeezing, nail biting thrill rides that make us want more & more. Which judging by the ending and comic adaptation is what will undoubtedly happen. Megan Fox was also pretty good.

There's only one speed, My Speed

Summer days are so hot right now. The best time to go out and get things done are before 2pm and after 6pm. Any attempt to venture out into the inferno blazing just outside the front door renders one dehydrated & exhausted for the rest of the day, if not prepared. Growing up I remember my mom telling us to wear sunscreen for protection, but of course us kids never wore any. In fact, before we knew of Blazing Saddles we'd say, "Lotion! We don't need no stinkin lotion!" Now it's an absolute must. Routine sunburn will undoubtedly change something on the molecular level of your health these days. Equally important are protecting your eyes. Your eyes. Organs that are constantly exposed to the outside world should be protected from harm. Days here remind me of Planet Crematoria where the sun rises and everything on the horizon starts exploding into lava-hot magma and when the guy walks into the sun's rays he gets vaporized?

So.

The other day I was at the park for a run before the hottest part of the day and saw something that was with me for the entire day and the better part of the weekend. I'll explain later.

It was a good run. A run I've been meaning to push through to the finale for a while now. Lately they've been as segmented, sloshful and shamefully pitiful in performance as my C:\ drive at home. Although unprepared for the long distance run about-having no water, no shades, no head covering, but did have sunscreen-I ran long and strong. Self inflicted torture is good for your health isn't it?

At times all running is is just that: Running. Running from what's behind you to get closer to the goal that's in front of you.

Now to what was with me, I'm chuggin along the beaten path and see a couple walking. A man and his wife, both older. The man is noticably walking ahead of the wife at a brisk pace while the wife is behind noticably trying to keep up. The man is clearly on his mission to get some sort of work done while I gather in those few seconds his wife is there because he said so. He's got a fanny pack with water. An Indiana Jones hat on. Gore-tex gear. She's got nothing. She's wearing sweat pants. It's hot. I'm gone. Coming back I pass them again. Except this time he's way ahead of her, like 50 yards or so while she stumbles a bit in an effort to keep up with Mr. Survivorman up ahead. I'm passing and ask the poor Mrs. if she's okay. I see her face is soaked in sweat and pale in color. She's exhausted. We've all got a long way to go to get to the pavilion. She's says her Husband gave her some water so she's okay. Really though, she's in danger. Grave danger. Heat stroke was on the back of her neck she just didn't admit it.

I felt pity and anger towards this brief encounter. Pity for the poor woman who was being dragged through the treacherous stretch in the blazing heat by her unsympathetic husband and anger at the husband because he was being so selfish. Kind of like an overgrown child trying to get his way with mother. I learned so much from this guy I should have thanked him for letting me see the light on how not to be a good husband/human being. I really didn't know there were cave men still walking around. He was a good sport though. I ran fast and he managed to stay on my back the entire way. His wife I imagine made it back 30minutes later.

The C Train

Last Friday afternoon I went for a bike ride through a part of Terry Hershey Park in West Houston. It was a glorious day. A bit hot but still nice.



This was lots of fun. I plan on making this a weekly occurance from now on.



There are portions of Terry Hershey that seem Amazonian in nature and yet, I'm riding through a suburb of Houston.



You see that tiny speck at the grass line by the trees? That bench is a really good spot for doing absolutely nothing.



While there at the bench I took sample photos of the local flora and did more of nothing.



This is the bike I ride these days. It's been through a lot but it still holds together.

Color Me Green

I live in a state of perpetual fear & anxiety. Fear at night now a days (nights) because summer's here in Houston so that means cockroaches the size of small rodents scurry about in the pitch blackness of our "new" home and anxiety in that children, whose parents are effectively living up to the lost generation's expectations because of not imposing limits on their children (no curfews), never seem to just go home and make noise elsewhere . There is a sizable hole in our roof top which means animals with wings can find shelter just above our resting heads and falling water can make way down on our heads. But this is just me venting and doing a bit of complaining I've been meaning to do. I don't like to weigh my dear Lily down with such things because together we should form our own little world of peace & serenity, not host a daily meeting of minds to bash our brains in with bad news and fustrations. I think this barrel blast of fustration does better blown out to smithereens than inside our "home".

Color me green & call me jaded because just this past month while NOT updating this blog I've also witnessed a series of unfortunate events. The family atmosphere I supposedly work for has decided to eliminate a percentage of all its workforce. I read something profound a while back that said roughly, "We should not call our workplaces family atmosphere's or even say "Here We're All Family" because when the books start looking dismal and we're not sure how we're gonna pay the bills a real family wouldn't start hacking away the family to reduce it's expenses." If a business wants to portray a sense of commaradarie in its workplace even though it's the global size of say Wal-Mart Corp., keep things realistic. Growth, growth, growth is not always a good thing. An unemployed engineer could even calculate for you that the house of cards your building on the dune of sand is not going to stand long when it rains. Instead, I would gladly work for a place that says we're not sure how long you'll have your job or even if you can depend on us to build your career but at least we'll be honest with you, plus you'll make loads of money. Trimming the fat I think would be a more suitable mission statement in todays business climate.

Fear & anxiety. How much more of this can be shoveled into our minds? I feel sometimes we're all cattle being fed from a slop trough a steady diet of propaganda aimed at making us miserablely enriched. Quite literally even, ever wonder how restaurants keep us coming back for more? Just how many calories is that meatball pasta lasagna chicken parmesian entre? Enough to last me two days? I'll have it. With your finest wine.

This reminds me of a joke Lily and I heard one evening. The comedian says, "I'm not full till I hate myself." A roar of laughter ensues. I used to eat like this. Eating or more correctly, gorging on foods that would over the course of years would entirely block an artery. Not anymore though. I try to think in terms of calories now. Even though the portions may be smaller the calories are what really fuels this fuel burning machine called my body. Therefore, to meet my daily caloric needs I stay away from useless foods that take away from my meals full potential. Vitamins, fiber, proteins etc. etc. We're learning how this works and so far, it works.

These days are much like the summer of 2005. The summer Katrina came to town and spread everything out like a shockwave traveling from it's epicenter. In the days after our evacuation we just had to take each day at a time. Worrying about anything more than a day ahead of us was useless. Our hopes were to just get through the day together as a family. Now, I feel we just need to make it through these next few months then fall is here to make everything somehow better. That is of course if another storm doesn't visit us making life similar to chapter 30 of The Stand. But seriously, if I do lose my coveted job life will not cease to exist, I will go on to live another day and in fact I will prosper in my new found expanse of free time-Serve God religously and have faith in the future.

**UPDATE 06/22/09**

Since this posted date I've taken the initiative to fix some things noted above. No longer do I have insects running amuck like viet cong guerilla men during the night or brazingly during broad daylight. Using Great Stuff I've filled in/blocked all access points from intra dry wall space to comfy stay-out-of-home-space. So far so good.

Aluminis Bonnabelis

This is not Drew Carey this is my brother Seth. He just graduated so we went down to Louisiana for a much needed visit.



David, another brother, doing the Charley Chaplin dance in the middle of the auditorium.



These are Lily's parents, John & Esla.



Ah the dinner party. You see that duffle bag. That duffle bag should not be tossed onto a conveyor belt as cargo. In fact, a bag for the duffle bag is recommended. Brian at the far left got it right.



David's a really good cook. Ironically my dad David was pretty good in the kitchen also.



Totally unrelated to this trip but Nelson & Victoria look great on their recent vacation.



Nelson took this photo of Victoria on the beach. He's a really good photographer. He's a guy with many talents and this is one of them.