Another Brother Biking Update (Updated)

My brother hit the 2000 mile mark today, somewhere in Kansas. He is booking along. I guess he needs to make up some time before he hits western Colorado, where he will have a lot of vertical miles, as well as horizontal ones.

Here is a picture (as he had promised TheHusband) of Alexander, KS (pop'n 75).

I don't think that I have ever been in a town that small. How totally mind-blowing for this person who has never lived anywhere besides the East Coast of the US.

Sun 5/31 -- middle of nowhere, MO (84 miles)
Mon 6/1 -- Houston, MO (101 mi)
Tues, 6/2 -- Houston, MO (rest day)
Wed 6/3 -- Fair Grove, MO (81 mi)
Thu 6/4 -- Pittsburg, KS (102 mi)
Fri 6/5 -- Toronto, KS (102 mi)
Sat 6/6 -- Newton, KS (97 mi)
Sun 6/7 -- Larned, KS (108 mi)
Mon 6/8 -- Scott City, KS (121 mi!!!)
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Updated 6/9, 12:38 pm (EDT)

Mountain Time! He's made it to Mountain Time. He's in Greeley Co, KS.

Careful what you wish for...

"Break a leg"? That's the advice which has been given to actors for like a zillion years. Well, don't say it to judges, because they may take you seriously.

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor fell at LaGuardia Airport, when she was on her way to DC for visits with more Senators. She apparently was seen and treated within 2 hours and made it to DC in time for a 2 pm meeting with Senator Grassley. Why doesn't that ever happen when I go to the ER?

H/T to the Washington Post

I'm so hot AGAIN

We replaced our furnace and central AC unit a little over 3 years ago. The ones we replaced were 27 (!) and 19 years old, respectively. The new AC unit died last year right around this time, when it was 90+ degrees. Apparently some freaking bug got fried on the "coil", which is a crucial AC unit innard. So we sweltered.

Today, I turned the AC on for the first time in a few days, when the inside temp in the main level of the house hit 78. Eventually, I figured out that the house really wasn't cooling off. Being relatively smart, I opened the back door to listen for the compressor and heard... ... ... nothing, of course. The outside AC compressor unit has crapped out again. So we turned off the AC at the thermostat, waited 10 minutes and turned it back on. No dice. TheHusband flipped the fuses just in case (although they were both in the "on" position). Nope.

ThePinkThing came downstairs saying that she couldn't sleep because she's too hot (duh, it's 85 degrees up there...). So we went around the upstairs opening every window, because (thankfully) it is at least 15 degrees cooler outside than inside. We also put a fan in TPT's room and turned it on. I am in hopes that she will fall asleep, and not decide to stick something in the fan "to see what happens".

Why are modern products so damn crappy? This is a Carrier unit, which is supposed to be good, but it has crapped out twice now in 3 years. Granted, I don't know how long the prior AC unit went between breakdowns, but it never broke down once in the almost 6 years we used it. We only replaced it, because I wanted a more energy efficient unit (hah, an energy efficient central AC unit; I must be smoking something), and the furnace had given up the ghost. So we decided to replace the AC unit at the same time. I totally regret it now.

I'm hot.

It's all Anne's fault

So I had planned a major renovation, redecoration, whatever-you-want-to-call-it of my farm tonight. But Farm Town is down. :-( And my distress is all Anne's fault for getting me hooked on it. ;-)

Phooey. I guess I'll have to go read a book. Or go to bed at a reasonable hour. Chances are I'll read a book.

Was I Calvin?

My brother and I anthropomorphized many things when we were kids, especially stuffed animals. As he notes in his recent blog post, our stuffed animals had very rich "internal" lives, supplied by our imaginations. They had names (first, last and occasionally middle), family trees, personalities (sometimes too much), and even grade point averages. They lived in their own country and had their own language that we thought our parents couldn't understand (they could, we were wrong about that). Some were nice, some were mischievous, and some were plain old bad. We loved some of the animals literally to bits.

I was so excited to "play" stuffed animals with my daughter, expecting her to glom on to them in the same way Dan and I did. But she didn't. And she really doesn't care about them. She will interact with them -- usually with me providing the voice of one, two, or even three animals, while she is only herself. Occasionally she takes on the role of one of the animals, but she gets frustrated when she isn't being obnoxious in just the right way. I sometimes wonder if her disdain for stuffed animals is due to a lack of imagination, a lack of interest, or simply a lack of siblings.

But my predisposition to anthropomorphizing has made it very easy to get her to eat vegetables. You see, the vegetables on her plate complain. Loudly. They don't want to be eaten (understandably so). And they inform ThePinkThing of that. A green bean on her fork will shriek and carry on and suggest that she eat a different one. The broccoli or cucumber victims are always willing to throw a different one to wolves, per se. She gleefully eats them. Punishment, perhaps, for complaining. Whatever. She eats her vegetables. And I get to have fun while she does it...

So you see why I wonder if Sam Waterston lived in my head, or he modeled Calvin after me (without the hyperactivity). I think it is time to introduce ThePinkThing to Calvin and Hobbes, don't you?


(I found this somewhere online. It apparently wasn't done by Sam Waterston, though I think it's brilliant)

Funny?

Sigh.

I like comedy, and I am as funny as the next geeky, SF-loving, brain doctor. But there are some things I just don't find funny. TheHusband likes them, of course, and is influencing ThePinkThing in ways of which I don't approve.

Such as:


Or:


Or:

I hate that fucking frog with a purple passion, but ThePinkThing thinks it is hilarious (and a little naughty). I just want to turn the damn thing into cuisses de grenouille.

Or (God forbid):


Now, I don't want you to think that I hate everything ThePinkThing finds funny...

We both adore:


And who doesn't like this:


And from one of my favorite movies:


But someday I will punish TheHusband for introducing her to The Three Stooges before her brain was fully myelinated and her tastes fully formed...

Brother Biking Update

Got a text from Daniel on Saturday night with more recent locations and mileage. He also sent me some photos to put on his blog, which I have done. TheHusband and I told my brother that we would drop everything or anything to come to his aid east of the Mississippi. Last night, we relinquished that responsibility to Donny, although in reality, I would still drop everything and run... That's what big sisters are for, right? TheHusband is considering meeting him somewhere in Kansas, just because.

Here is the full list of his stops and the mileage. Some of the mileage is exact (i.e., what his bike computer said), and some is estimated (i.e., from his map). I don't know exactly where he stayed last night, though. :-(

Tue, 5/12 -- Occoquan, VA (???)
Wed, 5/13 -- Fredericksburg, VA (55 mi)
Thu, 5/14 -- Powhatan, VA (93 mi)
Fri, 5/15 -- Charlottesville, VA (70 mi)
Sat, 5/16 -- Lexington, VA (88 mi)
Sun, 5/17 -- Catawba, VA (66 mi)
Mon, 5/18 -- Blacksburg, VA (25 mi)
Tue, 5/219 -- Blacksburg, VA (rest day)
Wed, 5/20 -- Sugar Grove, VA (91 mi)
Thu, 5/21 -- Council, VA (83 mi)
Fri, 5/22 -- Hindman, KY (96 mi)
Sat, 5/23 -- Booneville, KY (65 mi)
Sun, 5/24 -- Berea, KY (???)
Mon, 5/25 -- Bardstown KY (98.5 mi)
Tue, 5/26 -- Bardstown, KY (off)
Wed, 5/27 -- Falls of Rough, KY (93 mi)
Thu, 5/28 -- Sebree, KY (74 mi)
Fri, 5/29 -- Eddyville, IL (90 mi)
Sat, 5/30 -- Chester, IL (105 mi)
Sun, 5/31 -- Somewhere in MO (???)

I used Google Maps "Walking" directions option to generate the maps below, so they are not entirely accurate. However, they do show how freaking far he has gone... Click on each to enlarge.

Bethesda, MD to Blacksburg, VA


Blacksburg, VA to Bardstown, KY


Bardstown, KY to Chester, IL


The whole trip (so far) on a topographical map. Virginia is one hilly place.