Is this thing on?

So it's been a while since I posted here. To all of you who check this every day waiting to get some speck of contact from me - I wish you existed. Seriously, though, thanks for reading if you're here.

Winter was not kind to the ol' physique...and heading into this summer I was definitely behind the 8-ball (albeit heavy enough to be clearly visible to either side) as far as fitness goes. Last year was a rough one physically, especially with the whole 'blind-sided by 700 lbs of steel to the back of the leg' incident. But this year is going to be different.

I signed up for two 50+ mile mountain bike races - the Hampshire 100(k) and Vermont 50. So far so good, although finding time to ride is very hard when you're working late every other night and trying to maintain a house on top of that. But I'm already in better shape this year than I was at any point last year. I've got 7 weeks left until the Hampshire 100 and I intend to make the most of them.

Random thought: I love fresh strawberries. Love love love love them.



May compassion be always in your heart, and peace be always on your tongue.

- J

If anyone still reads this thing, you might remember that I had a post way back in June about how I had finally done it - applied to Bensonwood, that is. Well get this - I'm driving out there to interview tomorrow. I don't think I've ever been this nervous for a job interview. Of course, I've always been exceptionally well qualified for other jobs I've interviewed for. That, and I think my father is a bit disappointed. Not necessarily in me, but disappointed that I'm not going to be working for him. I think he had always hoped I would take over his business and turn it into some monster company. You know, take what he built and expand it - just like sons are supposed to do. Maybe I'm just putting too much pressure on myself. I know he just wants me to be happy, but dammit - it's hard being the oldest son. So many expectations, real and perceived.

Oh well, nothing to do now but show up and try and wow them, right? Think good thoughts about me tomorrow...

May compassion be always in your heart, and peace be always on your tongue.

- J

Winter is coming...

Famous words from one of my favorite books, and a reflection of what I see out the window. This time of year always makes me a little sad, yet at the same time fills me with almost giddy levels of hope. The cold signals that another year has come and gone. I guess this year hasn't been all that bad, when I sit back and look at it. Sure I didn't get to ride that much, but I thoroughly enjoyed each ride I was able to get in. I bought a house (and all the problems it came with) and started down the road to financial independence. A subtle reminder to get my life in gear showed up in the form of a 700 lb steel plow frame (funny how I'm still dragging even now). And I led my first NHOC trip in almost two years. Man, this sounds like I'm saying goodbye to 2006! Two months left.... Guess I better get busy - if I can describe my year in one paragraph I need some excitement before the new year!!

May compassion be always in your heart, and peace be always on your tongue.

- J

The strangest thing happened this weekend...

I rode my bike. Twice. For the first times since the first week in May. My mom was right, too - I was smiling so much I think my face is stuck like this forever

Man did it feel good to be out. It's kind of funny, really. This winter I was planning to start racing this summer; this was going to be my best year of riding ever! I was able to ride clear trails in Jan, Feb, and March for the first time. I even got a sponsorship from a local shop. Then I bought a house. Then it started raining and flooding. Then my left leg got blindsided by 600lbs of steel at work.

I was finally able to start (sort of) walking again about two weeks ago and yesterday I decided I could wait no longer. With beautiful weather and some manufactured free time the bike was calling my name! I'm happy to report that my leg actually feels better on a bike than it does when walking.

It feels good to be back!

A couple pics of Arm on Fire:

I'm getting sick of painting.

Brett and I are going completely through our second apartment right now. Sanding, painting, priming, sanding, priming, painting.... If you ever own an apartment building....DO NOT LET YOUR TENANTS PAINT THE DAMN THING!!!! That's the deal with this apartment. Apparently some tenants previous to our purchase 'painted' the place. I use the term 'painted' loosely here. Mopboards two different colors, with brush strokes just stopped like they were too stoned to remember to keep going. Ceilings with a few roller strokes here and there, walls painted almost to the ceiling, but never quite finished... yeah. On the brighter side, I'm getting good at painting, just in time to get sick of it. Looks like my place is going to have to wait until winter to get some paint.

On the brighter side, my foot is doing better. I was able to throw a couple bales of hay today, and I can walk around almost normally. Remember kids, the Positive Mental Octopus is your key to healing quickly! That, and good nutrition. When you eat an orange make sure to not peel all the white stuff off - it's full of Rutin (a part of the Vitamin C Complex) which is excellent for your vascular system.

Well, off to bed. I leave you with this wonderful picture of a the anti-summer in hopes it will help those of us sans air conditioner sleep better tonight....
Good luck on your drive west Pat and Steph!


May compassion be always in your heart, and peace be always on your tongue.

- J

I finally got the balls to do it...

I applied at Bensonwood. Looks like something of importance has finally come out of my foot injury. Perhaps this was what the whole thing was about all along? Who knows. Anyway, if you want to check Bensonwood out, follow this link.

Also, if you're looking for a book to read, check out The End of Faith by Sam Harris. Freighteningly good. Read my review of this book here.

Hope all are well, and leave me some love in the comments so I know people are actually reading this!
May compassion be always in your heart, and peace be always on your tongue.

- J

I can walk!!!

Well, I can use the leg/foot again.  Not well, mind you, but it can bear weight.  Within two weeks the Rolling Bodhisattva will ride again!

Trying out Performancing for Firefox

I just downloaded Performancing for Firefox, and I'm trying it out.  Supposedly this extension lets me post to my blog from the comfort of my own browser!  Check it out at https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1730/! 

Whoa - where have I been?

Well, it's been a while since I've been here. What's new in my life? A whole bunch.

Brett and I moved into our new house and are now enjoying (cough) our new lives as landlords. It never ends with a house the size of a small village. Anyone want to help us paint this week?

Also, the NHOC Jackson Cabin project has been moving along. We now have the entire frame raised and part of the roof on. All that's left is to get the insulation up there and we'll be set to get it finished! If you'd like to see more on this, check out nhoccabins.blogspot.com

Bike riding? What's that? The house, the weather, and now a mashed leg has kept me off the trail in this, what was to be my most intense riding year ever. Funny how life works, huh? Check it out, though:


Looks nice, huh? That happened last friday and I still can't walk on it. I'm going to see the orthopedist today, so hopefully I'll be walking again by the weekend.

Anywho - hope you're all doing well, and if you get a chance, check out this book. Some good, yet scary, stuff to make you think.

May compassion be always in your heart, and peace be always on your tongue.

- J

Home Inspection!

Six hours and $600 later, I have a much deeper understanding of 45 Hough St (the place I may buy). Built in 1890, it has an old barn that was converted into two 2BR apartments. The barn and the house are connected by an added on section. Here's what I learned today:

• Powder post beetles can live for up to 300 years in wood. In the old days none of the wood was kiln dried, meaning the beetles lived on after the boards were cut. Nowadays that's not an issue. In this house it is a bit of an issue, especially under the barn/connector parts.
• Old construciton is OLD. They wood they used is also old now, as are the bricks, blocks, and other things that make up the house. When things get old they sag, crumble, split, crack, and otherwise deteriorate. I've got one non-loadbearing wall that's crumbled (block foundation in the connector) and one non-loadbearing sill that actually rolled out from under the gabled end wall and off the foundation (and also happens to be full of above beetles). The barn roof is also in need of some repair, although in the whole place we only found evidence of one leak. All the chimneys are essentially reverting back to the original clay the bricks were made from. Problem? Maybe someday, but it'll be ok for another decade at least (I hope).
• One furnace is great, the other three could go at any time. Three water heaters are great, one could go at any time.
  
• Moist dirt floor basements make me sneeze.
• One electrical panel needs to be updated from fuses to breakers.
  
• If I ever need to climb up the fire escape onto the roof again, there had better be a raging fire. That thing was terrifying.
• Most of the tennants didn't know there was a coin-op laundry in the builidng (two came home with laundry from the laundermat while I was there for the inspection.
• The attic wasn't originally designed for living space, but now contains three bedrooms. Electric heat was added at some point (the rest of the house is FHW) in the rooms up there. The joists are also undersized, and the floors are spongey/springy/droopy. That should be fixed.
• If you need a home inspection, call Guardian Inspection Services (in Manchester, NH). Steve was great - he was crawling around in racoon shit for chrisake. And he knows his stuff.

So there's lots to think about now. I might try to get some money off, or I might say f* it and pass on the place. I suppose it's not as bad as I think it is. I'll get some more opinions, the furnaces inspected by a furnace guy, and think about it.

What I really need to remember is that this house is not "my dream home". It's a means to an end. It's a way to get other people to help me out with my equity, reduce my immediate cost of living, and be able to get the 'place of my dreams' sooner than I would by just putting cheddar in the bank. Sometimes it's bad to expect everything to be done right, I guess. After all I don't live in the basement, nor am I going to live in this place forever.

Decisions, decisions....

May compassion be always in your heart, and peace be always on your tongue.

- J

An update on the house

Well, they accepted my offer on the house. Frikkin A! I am both excited and scared shitless at the same time. Financing is pending, and my home inspection is tomorrow morning. I'll keep ya posted!

May compassion be always in your heart, and peace be always on your tongue.

- J

Buying a what????

So I might be buying a house. A multi-family, actually. Hope to put an offer in on it in the AM. The place is freakin' beautiful! I hope we get it. Finances will be tight, but it's worth it in my book. Now, I just need to be able to pay for it. Wish me luck!

May compassion be always in your heart, and peace be always on your tongue.

- J

Simple, Green, Beautiful.

AOF...

The gear gods hate me!

What a weekend for riding! Saturday brought cold temperatures and even colder winds, but with the predictions calling for a return to warm weather I figured I had better get out and enjoy the bike(s) before the trails entered their yearly spring unrideable-ness. Z and I decided to hit FOMBA, then head over to Nault's. I love riding with Z because he's without a doubt the best rider I know. Every time I ride with him, I get amazingly challenged. Saturday was no exception. By the end of the ride, I was cramping in 50% of my major leg muscles. And I loved every minute of it! Except the minute where I hit that tree on Moose Tracks, went OTB, dragged my shin across the bars, and landed 5 feet down trail only to find a shoe still clipped into my pedal and no longer on my foot (I guess it's a good thing my foot wasn't still in the shoe. Although with the foot warmer still on, it looked like a complete foot and ankle...). After putting the shoe back on, straightening my stem, and reattaching my camelbak hose to the bladder, off we went. Not ten minutes later, I managed to somehow kick up a rock the size of softball (except without any round edges). Where did it hit me? In the exact spot on the top of my shin that I had nailed in previous encounter with that tree. What was even weirder was the type of pain that ensued. Not so much point acute pain, but more of a throbbing ache - almost as if all of my bones in that leg had split in half lengthwise. Very strange, and not so pleasant. Oh well, that's biking. I'll take that over a cubicle any day. Moral of the story: I rode with Z and was physically destroyed.

So Sunday I ride with AOF over at Ft. Rock. I figure I'll take the gearie out because I'm tired, and those nice, easy gears will help out. I spent a bunch of time swapping tires, brakes, and wheels over to the Gunnar to prep it for a good ride in soft sloggy snow. And it was a good thing I did, because soft, sloggy snow was the soup de jour on Sunday. About 3 seconds into the ride, I realize that the only gearing that would really help my tired ass is 4:11's in a Jeep. Not only that, but the Gunnar fits me like a woman's size 8; it looks about right but just feels awkward, and I can't get comfortable on it. We ride with Phresh (thanks for all the VW info!) and AOF's bud R and get in two hours of laid back weather-enjoying good stuff.

Here's where the bicycle gods come in.You'll notice that the bike god has no shifter-thingy hanging down in back. I've known this for a while now, but still chose to break out the gears on Sunday. How do they repay me?
By mangling my rear derailleur with a stick, of course. Shame on me for succumbing to the shifter-thingies!!! Now I'm out 45 bucks, which sux.

Fortunately, I listen when the bike gods speak. (except when they tell me to buy a new custom frame each morning) I see their dislike of the complexity of gears and associated shifter thingies. And, I agree. So instead of buying another easily mangled shifter-thingy for $45, why not get this for $120?



Isn't it sexy? And in that nice polished aluminum, it'll look great with my pretty silver Gunnar. Especially without gears!




View pics from Sunday's ride here. And get out and enjoy the nice weather!!!!

May compassion be always in your heart, and peace be always on your tongue.

- J