Saturday, December 16, 2006

And now for something completely different...

I had to go and pick today to start doing demolition work on our bathroom. A little history would probably help you out with this sudden segue: due to the fact that Golden and I were totally fed up with moving, we bought the house we had been renting for 3 years. I highly recommend this sort of real estate transaction for the ease of packing aspect that sort of immediately jumps to mind. We packed and moved one ceremonial box and lo and behold, we were moved in...

So, the house had been remodeled by its new owners prior to us moving in, but there is a difference between remodeling a rental and remodeling the house you own. Naturally, there are things that we have never been happy with and I have decided that now is the time to start fixing them. I don't think I am being to immodest in saying that I am really good at tearing stuff up. So, this morning when I woke up, one thought burned brightly in my mind: I am going to tear the hell out of my bathroom!

My plan was do a little bit to get things ready for a visit from Troy the cycling plumber and then go enjoy our 60-70 degree weather with the 10am group ride. Suffice it to say, things got a little out of hand and I didn't make it... What a shame, too, as our very own Charles decided to give a double presentation in our group ride lecture series. Presentation #1, entitled "The coefficient of friction of human skin", could not be faulted for the sheer gusto of delivery, but lacked in originality. I mean, please, how many times have you seen somebody sliding face first down chip-sealed asphalt before? Now butt first, that I would really be kicking myself for missing. Honestly, though, I am most disappointed in missing presentation #2, entitled "The Human Elbow: an in-depth anatomy lesson". By the time I got to see this one, the thing was so bandaged up it looked like he was sporting a cast. Eyewitness accounts claim that there was little to no bleeding of the elbow because "there wasn't anything left to bleed". There were reports that fascia was clearly visible. All I got to see was Charles all bandaged up, wearing a pair of knickers that had been cut all the way to the groin. Sort of like a Chippendales dancer, but a looooooooootttttt skinnier. I'm gonna have to really be more vigilant about making the group ride...

Charles should be fine, except for the next week or so of excruciating shower experiences and that fantastic sensation of sticking to the sheets from all of the white blood cells trying to do their thing. Yeah, except for that and a lot of pain, things should be just fine... I hope Charles get's better soon. And to Charles: inevitably, people are going to have all sorts of dumb questions and comments about how you could be so injured from riding a bike. The best analogy is to tell them to get in their car, drive down the road at 30 mph and jump out onto the pavement. It's the same experience, but it's a perspective they can wrap their heads around.

9am at the shop for a base pace cruise around Lake James!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Guys, doing well so far, thank Ibuprofen for that. Kinda neat to see muscle twitch WITHOUT skin hiding it. Plan to be back on the bike this weekend if all goes well, but my wife tells me I'll have to stick with indoors for a while. Guess it's back to the TDF videos, wish I had 2003 now.