Winter Returns

Saturday

31° F | 14° F
Snow

70% chance of precipitation

Knock knock. Who's there? Winter. Winter who? Winter, that season that used to happen once a year... ohhhhhhhhh.

After a several month hiatus, winter has decided to once again consume Colorado. What does this mean for the outdoor lifestyle? Stop turning that pedal wrench and pick up the skis again. There should be some good fresh moving into the hills, so eat it up and go back for seconds. For those of you in need of another source of false hope for freshies and cherry cherry, but with significantly more accuracy that Al Roker, check out www.coloradopowderforecast.com!

Today's forecast: Hot dog

Delicious Chips and Elderly Self Check Out

Extremely Delicious Buffalo Blue Chips and Efficient Self Checker on Left...Old Man Slow Checker with Grandkids on Right

Alright...here it is. First off, Kettle Chips are delicious. More so, Buffalo Bleu Kettle Chips, these things are bang up. If you haven't housed a bag lately, give in and cram your face with these crispy buffaloey morsels.

On a more serious revolution spurring note, if you don't have confidence in your self check out skills, give the fourteen year old kid in lane 5 some work and don't use the self checkout! I hereby implement the following criteria regarding self checkout personnel eligibility:

1. You know how to use or preferably regularly use what society has dubbed a "computer."
2. Understand the basic principles of which way to turn the barcode for the scanner to read it.
3. Recognize that bananas and avocados do not have barcodes, and you will need to exercise some higher level thinking to enter the number on the little sticker.
4. Fully understand that if you have coupons the people behind you are going to be pissed.
5. Comprehend that there is a scale and weight measure involved in the process, and if you scan a box of Wheaties and don't place it on the scale it will tell you to please wait for an attendant. At this point you have caused 100% gridlock and defeated the purpose of self checkout, the people behind you are once again pissed.
   
6. Your conscious is OK with stealing a 28cent lemon if the computer tells you to "place it in the bag."
7. Understand there is no true help at the self checkout, generally the attendants are not the gold-star-cashiers and you are on your own. If your computer says "please wait for attendant," the people behind you are going to be pissed.
   
8. Realize it is not a good idea to buy booz at the grocery store, much less the self checkout, after all, the computer can't tell your 21.
   
9. Recognize that if you need to ask any questions regarding how to use the machine, the people behind you are going to be pissed.
   

Kokopelli's Trail...Enough Said...Who's In?

The Diverse Children Say "It's a Go"

The above picture says it all, it's a go! Katie and I will be making a swanky cross country voyage from June 5 to June 20! I am not sure why the young mates above are holding flags, but if the exceptionally diverse children have not eluded to our route, we will be heading due west to PA for a short layover to take care of some wedding business, and then up to the Northeast for the meat and potatoes.

What's on the agenda you ask? Just about everything involving bikes, dogs, secluded cottages, microbrews, coffee, and good company. Katie and I plan on doing a several day bike tour in Vermont to rough it a bit, and then plan on kicking the feet up at a secluded cottage for 4 nights (courtesy of the rents!) Should be a blast! Intermixed will be some mountain biking at the Kingdom trails in Vermont with by bro, allowing the ladies some time to shop for fine perfumes, bedding, and Martha Stewart like accessories. After that, maybe a few days in some prestine Motel 8 in Burlington, or perhaps some free nights chez Dan and Jodie? Probably the later. All of this with Tada in tow! Should be glorious...I am going to have to create a gear list...cough...cough...BIG...cough...BIG DUMMY!

MN Plays Tricks

So I apologize for the lack of posts the last couple of days, work has been absolutely nuts and my great buddy Ned is in town from Washington; combined, this leads to a minimal amount of blogging.

What is not at a minimal level is the amount of confusion surrounding the seasons. Our first in command...MN, Mother Nature for the laymen, is throwing all sorts of stuff at us! I have been up in the mountains the past few days, and yes, it's cold and there is a bit of snow there, but it does not truly feel like winter right now. And as I cruise 36 back into Boulder past the flashing your speed is sign, it is warm, but not quite hot, and does not truly feel like summer.

Do I ski? Do I snow shoe? Should I start mowing the lawn if I had one? Do I mountain bike? Is it time to sun bath? I just don't know. Our pal Phil saw his shadow, locking us in to 6 more weeks of winter. However, judging by this furry groundhog's track record of 98 out of 112 years seeing his shadow, I am not taking his judgment as fact.

I Like Headbands

Alright, hear me out. Ventilation on the top, warmth on the sides, sweatband in the front, yeah that's right I said sweatband...headbands rock.

I took some serious flack from multiple individuals the other day for the above attire. I was heading out for a night run, about 7:15 PM, and threw on my usual attire of bright colors and a proper head ventilation piece. I did not realize that the night-run-fashion-police were sitting on the couch. After a short debate, I proclaimed myself victorious in the argument, and preceded to go for my run.

My run was enjoyable; if there would have been people on the trail they would have seen me, my head was not cold...but not hot, and the sweat was absorbed into my Hind headband without complaint. I like headbands.

It's Hard To Count Sheep On A Crappy Mattress

When Katie and I moved here 2 years or so ago we were not exactly swimming in money, so we decided to save some pennies anywhere we could. One area that we saved some Benji's on was a mattress. Rather than investing in a cheap mattress, we searched the land of Craigslist and uncovered a weed-smoke ridden beat-to-poo-mattress-like-object to rest on at night from the wonderful Nederland. What a great idea...

Fast forwarding to present day, we are still not swimming in money, not even wading, and still sleeping on the beat-to-poo-mattress-like-object. I have been wearing the pants when it comes to the mattress relationship decisions, and I have not wanted to invest in a mattress simply because of the cost of moving it when we leave the great republic of Boulder...until now.

Call me old, I would call you older, but my back is craving a better nights sleep. It has not gotten to the point of the infomercial where people toss and turn and knock over lamps and such, I can always sleep if I am tired, it's just not comfortable. Our limp-depressed-Nederland born-rag disguised as a mattress has got to go. Out with the old in with the new. As for how I am going to pay for it...noooooooo idea.

Move Over Matha Stewart...

All 4 people that read my blog know I like to cook. Sometimes my creations are good, sometime my creations are bad, and sometimes I just make a cheesecake and draw a bike on it with pureed strawberry's...it's just what I do.

The creation above was the outcome of a feud between wanting to go for a bike ride and wanting to bake a cheesecake. "You ever get the urge to make a cheesecake?" I asked my roommate. "Ummm, no...no I don't...but it doesn't surprise me that you do." After surveying a few others, it seems that indeed most people don't get the sudden urge to make a cheesecake...weird.

Nevertheless, armed with 24oz of cream cheese, organic cinnamon sugar cookie sticks, eggs, sugar, strawberry's, and a dump truck load of butter...it happened! If anyone is interested in the recipe you can link to it off of the following:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Strawberry-Cheesecake/Detail.aspx

$125 Profit

So I stumbled across this promotion the other day and wanted to share it with everyone. When you open a Chase checking account for the first time and set up a direct deposit/complete 3 debit card transactions per month, they will put $125 into your free checking account. You do have to keep the account open for 6 months, start with a minimum balance of $100, and set up a direct deposit; but if you are OK with those stipulations and having $100 tied up for 6 months...pure profit! I plan on bucking their intent and closing my checking account promptly after 6 months.

Vermont Bike Tour: Real Men Don't Cash In Their Dividends

It has been quite some time since Katie and I have taken a true, dedicated vacation. Sure we do the weekend thing, or the 4 day thing, or the cross country thing, but it has been almost 2 years since we have set aside a large block of time to strictly vacay. With a cushion of paid time off built up and Westminster established and running...I think it is time.

What is on the agenda? Tentatively a 2ish week trip to travel cross country to Vermont, and do a bike tour on and around the Lake Champlain Bikeways. I can't wait! Our itinerary is still in it's infancy, but we are thinking several days in the Burlington are, a few pedal strokes out to Stowe, and everywhere in between or none of the above if it rains.

As for the gear, real men don't cash in their dividends (I want a T-shirt that says that), they blow them on cool gear. Say...a Surly Big Dummy frame for said vacation! On the drawing board right now is Katie riding the Novara Buzz towing Tada in a trailer with minimal gear, and me hauling the majority of the load on the anticipated Big Dummy. Yep, that's right, Tada will be en' tow for the adventure, sucking down Zuke's and chowing on a Kong, you know she will love it!

Ahhhhhhhhhh, so Boulder...