5 things I'd totally kill for

1. A 2008 Specialized Transition Pro with Zipp 808s.
2. The ability to do a really good Sean Connery impression.
3. One of everything Surly makes.
4. A Paralympic triathlon in 2012.
5. Wind power at home.

I'm adding one more...the ability to grow an awesome ironic moustache. Yeah I spelled it old school. Deal.

zip-locked out

My ziplock bag-opening days are done. The meager amount of pinch strength I can generate (around 2 pounds of force) isn't enough to pull the ziplock open.

In most situations like this, I'd just use my teeth to open the bag. Last night the bag was full of marinading raw chicken. The teeth option did not seem like the wisest course of action. I've never had salmonella before, but an epidemiologist friend tells me it's no picnic. Unless your idea of a picnic is spending a day or two on the toilet. Then salmonella is a friggin festival.

In other news, I spent an hour adding 2 links to my bike chain last night. That job used to take 10 minutes. I better love having a 46 tooth chainring on the Cross Check, because I won't be switching back to a 42 for some time.

2 things

First, by Boston marathon recap is up on the MDRA blog.

Second, I need to start working on my guitar pick holder. I was able to hold a pick when I first bought my left-hand Les Paul. However, I can't come close to holding anything anymore so it's time to invent a way to handle a pick. That guitar isn't going to rock itself.

I've already decided what song I'll play first. I'm gonna blow the windows out of the house with this one.

Boston-bound

I'm heading to Boston tomorrow to watch the Women's Olympic Marathon trials. I just got word from my sister-in-law (who is running the trials) that she was bestowed race number 69. Yes!

Now, I don't need an excuse to bust out some totally juvenile humor...but an excuse never hurts. Just how many times I'll yell "Go 69! Woo!" hasn't been decided yet, though I'm sure it will be a lot.

We're shipping up to Boston.

et tu, doorknob?

I can't open the back door left-handed anymore. The door knob is a little too small for me to get a grip on the thing. It sucks, 'cause I like gettin' in the back door. Am I right guys? Woo!

Lord, I'm going to hear about that one.

I'll never be a stripper now.

Time for another installment of "the things I used to do".

As of yesterday, I'm no longer able to remove my shirt in a sexy way. You know the way, how you cross your arms & grab your t-shirt near your hip bones & slowly peel it up and over your head. Those days are done.

Just taking a shirt off with one functioning hand is tricky. Taking it off un-sexily is just sad.

worst. commute. ever.

I can't believe I lived through that. 10 miles of biking in to 25-35mph headwinds & crosswinds. Driving snow, rain & hail. Soaked to the bone after 2 miles with a temp of 35 degrees. Usually it takes 25-30 minutes, today it took an hour.

And now there's lightning & thunder to go with the snow and hail. WTF? This has to be a sign of the apocalypse.

love/hate

I love/hate running.


But I love advertising.

coupla things...

First, my new website is jacked up. My legs don't line up properly on PC browsers. Damn PCs. I'll fix it tonight.

Second, there's a good article in the strib about male athletes shaving their legs. Good stuff.

well this is pretty much awesome

I love advertising.

give 'em hell, wheelers

Wheelchair advocates are fighting for some SanFran city hall upgrades. Stick it to the man!

the things that I used to do...

Time for a recurring feature on this blog..."The things that I used to do." As in, "I won't do them no more." Guitar Slim? Anyone?


Anyway, there's a lot of stuff I can't do anymore. Today my ability to cut & paste on a Mac keyboard left handed finally died. I haven't been able to do it on a PC keyboard for some time.

R.I.P, cut & paste ability. You were taken before your time.

I love this guy...

Jon Comer is a pro skater. He has a prosthetic lower leg.

There's no paralympic skate division.

Respect.

up & running

Behold, in all it's splendor, the monomelic-amyotrophy-tasic blog!

This baby sprang from a post I made on the MDRA blog last year.Not long after making the post another blogger commented on how it took forever for her son to be diagnosed with monomelic amyotrophy. A few months later another woman commented on her boyfriend likely having it, not being able to find info online about it.

I mean, people are googling this motor neuron disorder, and finding a running blog. That's how little info there is out there. All we know is there is no cure or treatment, and there are fewer than 200,0000 cases nation-wide.

And I thought to myself, "That's just nuts."

So that's where monomelic-amyotrophy-tasic! comes from. I'll be blogging about the disorder, how it impacts everything from swimming to biking to cooking, and I'll even link to pertinent medical research, should any be produced.

I'll no doubt be ranting about other stuff as well. It is an election year after all.