Saturday, November 6, 2010
Cannondale Touring Bikes Feb 4 2011
To the customers that were in the store today (Feb 4 2011) I had a massive brain fart turns out that I do infact have 1 Xl Cannondale Touring 1 in stock. I am going to have that built today so it will be ready when you decide to come in next to get your bikes. Thanks. Evan
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Modern Day Gunslingers Nov 1 2010
Today had two main goals. Clean the bike, and go to school. Sounds simple but those two things ended up taking all day.
After getting the car moved out of the garage so that I could pull my bike in I suited up in all of my grease monkey gear. Then I proceeded to neatly line up all of my cleaning and polishing stuff just so that I can make a mess of everything within an hour.
To be honest I did not know where to start so I just started polishing metal. Dad turned me on to autosal which works about 100000000 times better then the mothers garbage I was dealing with before. It almost instantly brought shine back to bit that looked pitted and gross. As well it got rid of a lot of the ugly rust spots on key bolts and highlight pieces. The only problem was that once you did one piece you saw another, then another, then another. Then you realize you have been polishing for 3 hours and you haven’t even started on the paint yet.
After the first hours I decided that I should just take a break from doing small circles and switch muscle groups and start doing larger circle with the clay bar, and wax. I was amazed at the difference in paint quality between my car and the bike. When I clayed the car and looked at the bar it was stricken with blue patches. When I did the same to the bike it came up with nothing. Just goes to show you the difference in paint quality. Then came the wax. Waxing is actually strangely therapeutic. Something about covering every square inch of surface area then just waiting before you wipe it off is just awesome.
Covered in cleaning stuff it was time for a shower. I needed to get the smell of turtle wax off of me and move on with the day. Moving on came in the form of a nap, which will be simulated by this long break in paragraphs.
“Evan do you have your questions ready for the people at BCIT”? Great way to wake up and the argument after wards was exponentially more special. Still though we decided to make the semi awkward car ride out to BCIT. Something about a car rid after an argument brings out the old west in all of us because at first you are just like a couple of gunslingers in the same car.
The information night for radio broadcasting was super interesting and is defiantly something I want to pursue but there is just no money in it. They say pursue what your passions are but it is also nice to have dinner on the table each night, and to have a table to put it on. So we will see how my other pokers in the fire come out before I make and choices.
After getting the car moved out of the garage so that I could pull my bike in I suited up in all of my grease monkey gear. Then I proceeded to neatly line up all of my cleaning and polishing stuff just so that I can make a mess of everything within an hour.
To be honest I did not know where to start so I just started polishing metal. Dad turned me on to autosal which works about 100000000 times better then the mothers garbage I was dealing with before. It almost instantly brought shine back to bit that looked pitted and gross. As well it got rid of a lot of the ugly rust spots on key bolts and highlight pieces. The only problem was that once you did one piece you saw another, then another, then another. Then you realize you have been polishing for 3 hours and you haven’t even started on the paint yet.
After the first hours I decided that I should just take a break from doing small circles and switch muscle groups and start doing larger circle with the clay bar, and wax. I was amazed at the difference in paint quality between my car and the bike. When I clayed the car and looked at the bar it was stricken with blue patches. When I did the same to the bike it came up with nothing. Just goes to show you the difference in paint quality. Then came the wax. Waxing is actually strangely therapeutic. Something about covering every square inch of surface area then just waiting before you wipe it off is just awesome.
Covered in cleaning stuff it was time for a shower. I needed to get the smell of turtle wax off of me and move on with the day. Moving on came in the form of a nap, which will be simulated by this long break in paragraphs.
“Evan do you have your questions ready for the people at BCIT”? Great way to wake up and the argument after wards was exponentially more special. Still though we decided to make the semi awkward car ride out to BCIT. Something about a car rid after an argument brings out the old west in all of us because at first you are just like a couple of gunslingers in the same car.
The information night for radio broadcasting was super interesting and is defiantly something I want to pursue but there is just no money in it. They say pursue what your passions are but it is also nice to have dinner on the table each night, and to have a table to put it on. So we will see how my other pokers in the fire come out before I make and choices.
NEW BIKE Oct 31 2010
Today was the day. I decided last night that a 1991 srx 400 was going to be my first bike. I know that getting a grey market bike means finding parts will be more difficult but hey look at the first car I bought, that isn’t the most practical vehicle either. Plus that money was burning a whole in my pocket.
After re looking at a bunch of the bikes I had contemplated I came to the same conclusion. 99% of the people selling are high, and the other 1% are selling crap. The nice thing with Ben is that he is a good guy, selling a decent bike. So bam it’s the winner.
The phone call to meet up was a little nerve racking so I made it as quick and awkward as possible, and I think we were both left with a feeling of “what just happened”. Before I knew it dad was on the doorstep and we were on the way over.
Now after giving ben the money and signing some papers we were off to insure it to get the bike home. Strike one for dads patience came when the first insurance place was close so we had to go all the way over into port coquitlam again to meridian auto (which I like dealing with better anyways. Strikes two and three both came when we realized that I forgot the paper work for the bike with ben. So even though we had the key really ben still owned the bike and had my money. Not going to lie I was a little nervous about this prospect as well so I was very prompt in calling him.
On the phone it seemed as if ben was expecting it because he said it would not be a problem and he would be there in a few minutes. A few minutes passed and he still was not there. Then the phone rang. I was half expecting him to say, “see yea”, but he was simply at the wrong insurance place which is a easy to do because within this one block there is about 3 insurance agencies, that just goes to show you what a rip off it all is.
It turned out to be a good thing he came because the original paperwork was filled out incorrectly so he would have had to re fill it all out again. In the end it all worked out and I had to watch my dad leave with ben to go pick it up. The first ride on my first motorcycle was going to be done by my dad.
There it was right on my driveway, my first bike. I expected it all to be golden but dad had some bad news for me. We need to do a complete overhaul on the suspension because it is just f’ed. I could not care less though I love my bike. Within 30 minutes of having it I could not let it sit so there I was on the street trying my hardest to hide my nerves. I slowly let out the clutch and…. Pop. I stalled. Tried again and I had the same outcome. I just was not getting it. Then slowly I started to get it. Then even slower I started to turn, and even slower then that I started to get comfortable.
After about 30 minutes I decided it was best for me to quit while I was ahead. And park it in its new shed before it started to pour rain again.
O yea and there were some strangely dressed kids knocking at the door that we had to give some candy to in order to make them leave.
After re looking at a bunch of the bikes I had contemplated I came to the same conclusion. 99% of the people selling are high, and the other 1% are selling crap. The nice thing with Ben is that he is a good guy, selling a decent bike. So bam it’s the winner.
The phone call to meet up was a little nerve racking so I made it as quick and awkward as possible, and I think we were both left with a feeling of “what just happened”. Before I knew it dad was on the doorstep and we were on the way over.
Now after giving ben the money and signing some papers we were off to insure it to get the bike home. Strike one for dads patience came when the first insurance place was close so we had to go all the way over into port coquitlam again to meridian auto (which I like dealing with better anyways. Strikes two and three both came when we realized that I forgot the paper work for the bike with ben. So even though we had the key really ben still owned the bike and had my money. Not going to lie I was a little nervous about this prospect as well so I was very prompt in calling him.
On the phone it seemed as if ben was expecting it because he said it would not be a problem and he would be there in a few minutes. A few minutes passed and he still was not there. Then the phone rang. I was half expecting him to say, “see yea”, but he was simply at the wrong insurance place which is a easy to do because within this one block there is about 3 insurance agencies, that just goes to show you what a rip off it all is.
It turned out to be a good thing he came because the original paperwork was filled out incorrectly so he would have had to re fill it all out again. In the end it all worked out and I had to watch my dad leave with ben to go pick it up. The first ride on my first motorcycle was going to be done by my dad.
There it was right on my driveway, my first bike. I expected it all to be golden but dad had some bad news for me. We need to do a complete overhaul on the suspension because it is just f’ed. I could not care less though I love my bike. Within 30 minutes of having it I could not let it sit so there I was on the street trying my hardest to hide my nerves. I slowly let out the clutch and…. Pop. I stalled. Tried again and I had the same outcome. I just was not getting it. Then slowly I started to get it. Then even slower I started to turn, and even slower then that I started to get comfortable.
After about 30 minutes I decided it was best for me to quit while I was ahead. And park it in its new shed before it started to pour rain again.
O yea and there were some strangely dressed kids knocking at the door that we had to give some candy to in order to make them leave.
Find Me A Washroom Oct 30 2010
We all woke up at around the same time, and Courtney and I had one thing pressing on the mind… to get home to use the washroom. When Maria offered us breakfast we kindly refused and said we must get on the road. Within 10 minutes of waking up we were both on the road dawning our surrey dinner jackets and going about half the speed we normally travel at.
That door could not come soon enough but my anal retentive cleaning nature decided to rear its head, and I came to the choice that cleaning my board was a far more pressing thing. About three scrubs on the deck into it I had to lay it down and sprint to do some damage in the washroom.
With a war scene behind me one thing was on my mind. Recover. I decided to plunk my butt down and just be lazy for a bit. That was until I phoned up ben (the owner of the motorcycle) saying that was free. Ben is a funny guy because he is all over the map, and was almost to accommodating for my crazy spur of the moment plans. I said I will be there in 25mins and he responded with ok make it 30 and I will be ok.
It was time to suit up and get my fixie on the road. This time I was a little more comfortable on it and was able to stop in a good distance instead of just white knuckling it like im on the New Jersey turnpike. Exactly 30 mins after the phone call there ben was rolling the bike onto the street.
The bike itself looked a lot better in daylight. The small nicks and scratches were less noticeable, and to be honest I was a little amazed by the fact I could ride something like that. It really was the perfect look as well. Which as much as that shouldn’t matter it does. But I knew I had to wait and think on it to make sure that this was the right choice.
When I got home I finished setting up my little shelter at the side of the house but before I got a chance to breath there was a knock at the door. It was Mark, Natasha and the kids. Austin is just an awesome nephew. He goes non stop all the time which does lead to things getting broken but I just counter that by flipping him upside down and play wrestling with him. He loves it because he does not see me much and I think even though I am 16 years his senior he can still relate to me.
This night also brought about the opportunity for me to employ my taco technique to a crowd of people. It was amazing I looked like the Port Coquitlam version of iron chef, which is a huge honour and an extremely hard title to grab. I did only do it with meat and not the fish taco because I did not want to kill anyone tonight.
That door could not come soon enough but my anal retentive cleaning nature decided to rear its head, and I came to the choice that cleaning my board was a far more pressing thing. About three scrubs on the deck into it I had to lay it down and sprint to do some damage in the washroom.
With a war scene behind me one thing was on my mind. Recover. I decided to plunk my butt down and just be lazy for a bit. That was until I phoned up ben (the owner of the motorcycle) saying that was free. Ben is a funny guy because he is all over the map, and was almost to accommodating for my crazy spur of the moment plans. I said I will be there in 25mins and he responded with ok make it 30 and I will be ok.
It was time to suit up and get my fixie on the road. This time I was a little more comfortable on it and was able to stop in a good distance instead of just white knuckling it like im on the New Jersey turnpike. Exactly 30 mins after the phone call there ben was rolling the bike onto the street.
The bike itself looked a lot better in daylight. The small nicks and scratches were less noticeable, and to be honest I was a little amazed by the fact I could ride something like that. It really was the perfect look as well. Which as much as that shouldn’t matter it does. But I knew I had to wait and think on it to make sure that this was the right choice.
When I got home I finished setting up my little shelter at the side of the house but before I got a chance to breath there was a knock at the door. It was Mark, Natasha and the kids. Austin is just an awesome nephew. He goes non stop all the time which does lead to things getting broken but I just counter that by flipping him upside down and play wrestling with him. He loves it because he does not see me much and I think even though I am 16 years his senior he can still relate to me.
This night also brought about the opportunity for me to employ my taco technique to a crowd of people. It was amazing I looked like the Port Coquitlam version of iron chef, which is a huge honour and an extremely hard title to grab. I did only do it with meat and not the fish taco because I did not want to kill anyone tonight.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Shoulder 1 Pavement 0 Oct 29 2010
Waking up in a semi strange bed is a good feeling. I can say that because I am not homeless, or promiscuous. Again another stellar intro brought to you by Evans mind recalling memories from 3 days ago at 10 at night.
When I got back home mom asked me what food I missed the most and I responded with one word “pancakes”. Now although I woke up to the smell of pancakes the next day they just were not the same. Now that I spent the night with dad I got the chance to partake in a little father son pancake ritual we have had for almost 10 years now. It’s pretty easy. Eat until you near explosion. My record of 1.5 batches of aunt jemima pancakes from when I was 11 still stands to date. It is amazing how my body works because without fail every time after eating roughly 7 pancakes I have to poo. And after said poo I always come back to a stack of three more. It is just an awesome circle.
Before long though we were back on the road because dad had to go downtown then to work. So before I knew it I was back home and trying to make plans for the night. In order to fill some time decided to go down to rocky point for a bit of closure. While traveling to port moody by skateboard I was going down one of the many steep halls around here and promptly ate tarmac. It sucked. I very quickly popped up and checked my collarbone to make sure that everything was still in one piece, and luckily this time it was.
Once at the park I just skated around then went and played a game of billiards, fallowed by sushi, and before I knew it I was getting a phone call from Courtney. Great I forgot I made plans with her. So there I was scrambling for a bud to get home so that I did not let a friend down.
I got to courts a little sweaty and running very behind, but the fact was I arrived. Courtney and I are strange because although we spent so much time apart we still finish each other’s sentences and have the exact same interests. Infact we even have the same taste in women which is strange. With both of our a.d.d.s kicking in we decided to hit the road for a late night skateboard sesh. I mean what could go wrong?
With no destination in mind we ended up at kistis house calling kristy to come over. Before we knew it it was a party. This is a rare thing for me but it was well needed. It was a little bit of a mess but in the end it was 4 friends in a basement hanging out having a good time. In many ways it was a lot like that 70’s show.
When I got back home mom asked me what food I missed the most and I responded with one word “pancakes”. Now although I woke up to the smell of pancakes the next day they just were not the same. Now that I spent the night with dad I got the chance to partake in a little father son pancake ritual we have had for almost 10 years now. It’s pretty easy. Eat until you near explosion. My record of 1.5 batches of aunt jemima pancakes from when I was 11 still stands to date. It is amazing how my body works because without fail every time after eating roughly 7 pancakes I have to poo. And after said poo I always come back to a stack of three more. It is just an awesome circle.
Before long though we were back on the road because dad had to go downtown then to work. So before I knew it I was back home and trying to make plans for the night. In order to fill some time decided to go down to rocky point for a bit of closure. While traveling to port moody by skateboard I was going down one of the many steep halls around here and promptly ate tarmac. It sucked. I very quickly popped up and checked my collarbone to make sure that everything was still in one piece, and luckily this time it was.
Once at the park I just skated around then went and played a game of billiards, fallowed by sushi, and before I knew it I was getting a phone call from Courtney. Great I forgot I made plans with her. So there I was scrambling for a bud to get home so that I did not let a friend down.
I got to courts a little sweaty and running very behind, but the fact was I arrived. Courtney and I are strange because although we spent so much time apart we still finish each other’s sentences and have the exact same interests. Infact we even have the same taste in women which is strange. With both of our a.d.d.s kicking in we decided to hit the road for a late night skateboard sesh. I mean what could go wrong?
With no destination in mind we ended up at kistis house calling kristy to come over. Before we knew it it was a party. This is a rare thing for me but it was well needed. It was a little bit of a mess but in the end it was 4 friends in a basement hanging out having a good time. In many ways it was a lot like that 70’s show.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Behind Door Number 2 Oct 28 2010
It was a slow start to the day, which was perfectly fine because the only plan I has was to go look at a blast with dad later on that day at around 5pm. Well the knock on the door came at 2pm and I was not ready. There I am in shorts and a tee shirt scrambling to get my junk together so that we were not flying blind into the depths of Langley. Surprisingly I did not forget anything, and I even remember to print off a map and the number of the guys place we were going to. Now I must admit I was a little sceptical of this deal because the bike seemed too good to be true. Adding to my suspicion was the fact that the owner lives in California, and the guy we were going to see was named sparky.
It was good to spend more then an hour with dad. It was even better to go to his house for the first time in a long time. Much like his body and my mind things had changed. The largest change came in the form of a chez lounge and a man chair instead of the two couch set up that was there before. Immediately I started grinding him about the chez, and how if you have a chez you have to start painting nudes. It is just a fact own a chez and you instantly become an internationally acclaimed painter. Dad is one of the few people I know that can put up with my dry humour at its best or worst so its nice to be able to let loose for a while.
Now what would a father and son do when they are spending the first minutes they have had together in a long time? Well look at used bikes online of course. Now my dad is a technology retarded. I know retarded is not politically correct but before I left I spent literally 2 hours with him simply teaching him how to comment on my blog. I am glad to report he is a craiglist, and youtube pro now….
Soon enough we were back on the road and making our way to Langley. It was raining and pitch black, which made it a perfect recipe for me to drive for the first time in close to 7 months in the largest car I have ever driven. I got to the bridge and that is when I said, “dad you’re taking over”. I like being small. I like being able to manoeuvre with a shoulder check that exposes more the 60% of what is behind me.
We got to the address soon enough. It was at the end of this unlighted gravel road that had multiple beware of dog’s signs. Needless to say red flags were starting to go off. Luckily in a short time a not so little shop appeared with a man standing at the door with two large dogs at his side barking away. This was sparky.
Luckily it all turned out to be legit. Sparky himself turned out to be quite the character. In this private Harley shop rested about 15 motorcycles and a dyno jet. There was only one I was focused on and it was dead centre. I was not as thrilled with it, especially after sitting on it. It just did not feel right. The foot controls felt to far forward, and everything was made of plastic. Which is fine if it is a new bike but this was not, so all the scratches are permanent and cannot be polished out. Adding to that the bike was riddled with corrosion and pain swirls. It got better. When we took the seat off we could not get it back on. We tried and tried for about 10 mins but could not make it happen. But wait there is more. When sparky fired it up it came to life with a HUGE “WOOOOMMMMPPPP”. The bike had been modified with a straight pipe exhaust that made the bike rattle like crazy. It was so loud that it gave me a headache within 5 minutes. I knew if I brought this home my mom would poop her pants.
It was nice to spend the night with dad. It was even nicer having a change of beds for a night. I was getting sick of staying in the same one for a week.
It was good to spend more then an hour with dad. It was even better to go to his house for the first time in a long time. Much like his body and my mind things had changed. The largest change came in the form of a chez lounge and a man chair instead of the two couch set up that was there before. Immediately I started grinding him about the chez, and how if you have a chez you have to start painting nudes. It is just a fact own a chez and you instantly become an internationally acclaimed painter. Dad is one of the few people I know that can put up with my dry humour at its best or worst so its nice to be able to let loose for a while.
Now what would a father and son do when they are spending the first minutes they have had together in a long time? Well look at used bikes online of course. Now my dad is a technology retarded. I know retarded is not politically correct but before I left I spent literally 2 hours with him simply teaching him how to comment on my blog. I am glad to report he is a craiglist, and youtube pro now….
Soon enough we were back on the road and making our way to Langley. It was raining and pitch black, which made it a perfect recipe for me to drive for the first time in close to 7 months in the largest car I have ever driven. I got to the bridge and that is when I said, “dad you’re taking over”. I like being small. I like being able to manoeuvre with a shoulder check that exposes more the 60% of what is behind me.
We got to the address soon enough. It was at the end of this unlighted gravel road that had multiple beware of dog’s signs. Needless to say red flags were starting to go off. Luckily in a short time a not so little shop appeared with a man standing at the door with two large dogs at his side barking away. This was sparky.
Luckily it all turned out to be legit. Sparky himself turned out to be quite the character. In this private Harley shop rested about 15 motorcycles and a dyno jet. There was only one I was focused on and it was dead centre. I was not as thrilled with it, especially after sitting on it. It just did not feel right. The foot controls felt to far forward, and everything was made of plastic. Which is fine if it is a new bike but this was not, so all the scratches are permanent and cannot be polished out. Adding to that the bike was riddled with corrosion and pain swirls. It got better. When we took the seat off we could not get it back on. We tried and tried for about 10 mins but could not make it happen. But wait there is more. When sparky fired it up it came to life with a HUGE “WOOOOMMMMPPPP”. The bike had been modified with a straight pipe exhaust that made the bike rattle like crazy. It was so loud that it gave me a headache within 5 minutes. I knew if I brought this home my mom would poop her pants.
It was nice to spend the night with dad. It was even nicer having a change of beds for a night. I was getting sick of staying in the same one for a week.
Back to Work Oct 27 2010
When I like something I don’t stop thinking about it. It becomes an obsession. This could manifest itself into a problem later on in life but for now I think I can deal with it. When I got out of the sack I immediately put on my cycling gear because I saw that it the first amazing day in a while. I also knew that I wanted to make a stop in at the Yamaha dealership in port moody just to get my nerding in for the day.
Just as I was about to walk out the door in my lime green cycling kit with my mountain bike I thought to myself “why am I taking the mountain bike”. Then my eyes caught my race bike hanging from the wall. The tires were flat, the grips dirty, no pedals in sight, and no brakes on the bars. This fixie was going to be my stead for the day. I needed to get my hands dirty from working on a bike again anyways as my touring bike still lies in a pile of pieces in the garage.
Within the first 3 pedal stokes I fell back in love with the bike. It’s so light, so low, and so comfy. It took me the entire 3 hour rid to get used to the weight, or lack there of. At first I could not even get out of the saddle to sprint. When I got onto the laugheed highway I got nice and low and started to put power into the pedals. I don’t know how fast I was going but it was fast. It was scary how much power I can put in now compared to when I left.
Almost as soon as I started to crank on the bike I had to lock up my legs to come to a skidding stop. I was so focused on the speed that I was not paying attention to the growing traffic in front of me, and the red light that was in my immediate future. Being able to lock the wheel up at speed was also a new experience because before I could not do that. Not that I want to because that rear tire is worth $70 and last time I check the track is pretty flat so I would quickly find out if I had a flat spot or not.
The first stop was at work to tell them “yea im coming back”. Rhys was kind of funny because he says to me in a dead serious manor “so you want to start tomorrow”. I didn’t know how to respond so I laughed and said no. I need some time. Luckily Rhys did as well and asked me to come back later. This worked out perfect because I wanted to go waste time at the motorcycle shop anyways.
15 minutes later I was at the motorcycle shop. This is the point where I have to voice some frustration. Why can I not get service? Eve if someone just out of pity cam up to me and asked if I was ok that would do. But here I am with multiple thousand dollars literally in my back pocket ready to buy and not one person helped. In fact I stood in front of the sales person who was having a conversation about a hot rod with another guy for 10 minutes before he said, “can I help you”. Thank god I thought to myself. After that asking the parts guys/ girl questions about the bike I was interested in was even more painful. This just made me all the happier with the service I got out in Langley at holeshot. I mean they have better staff, better selection, and a nicer location whets not to like?
Anyways after that I was back at the shop to find out my fate. Tuesday, Wednesday off. Brutal. In other words if I want to hang out with friends and have fun with them I will have to be tired as balls on the weekends. So be it you can ask for the moon, but know one said they would give it to you.
Just as I was about to walk out the door in my lime green cycling kit with my mountain bike I thought to myself “why am I taking the mountain bike”. Then my eyes caught my race bike hanging from the wall. The tires were flat, the grips dirty, no pedals in sight, and no brakes on the bars. This fixie was going to be my stead for the day. I needed to get my hands dirty from working on a bike again anyways as my touring bike still lies in a pile of pieces in the garage.
Within the first 3 pedal stokes I fell back in love with the bike. It’s so light, so low, and so comfy. It took me the entire 3 hour rid to get used to the weight, or lack there of. At first I could not even get out of the saddle to sprint. When I got onto the laugheed highway I got nice and low and started to put power into the pedals. I don’t know how fast I was going but it was fast. It was scary how much power I can put in now compared to when I left.
Almost as soon as I started to crank on the bike I had to lock up my legs to come to a skidding stop. I was so focused on the speed that I was not paying attention to the growing traffic in front of me, and the red light that was in my immediate future. Being able to lock the wheel up at speed was also a new experience because before I could not do that. Not that I want to because that rear tire is worth $70 and last time I check the track is pretty flat so I would quickly find out if I had a flat spot or not.
The first stop was at work to tell them “yea im coming back”. Rhys was kind of funny because he says to me in a dead serious manor “so you want to start tomorrow”. I didn’t know how to respond so I laughed and said no. I need some time. Luckily Rhys did as well and asked me to come back later. This worked out perfect because I wanted to go waste time at the motorcycle shop anyways.
15 minutes later I was at the motorcycle shop. This is the point where I have to voice some frustration. Why can I not get service? Eve if someone just out of pity cam up to me and asked if I was ok that would do. But here I am with multiple thousand dollars literally in my back pocket ready to buy and not one person helped. In fact I stood in front of the sales person who was having a conversation about a hot rod with another guy for 10 minutes before he said, “can I help you”. Thank god I thought to myself. After that asking the parts guys/ girl questions about the bike I was interested in was even more painful. This just made me all the happier with the service I got out in Langley at holeshot. I mean they have better staff, better selection, and a nicer location whets not to like?
Anyways after that I was back at the shop to find out my fate. Tuesday, Wednesday off. Brutal. In other words if I want to hang out with friends and have fun with them I will have to be tired as balls on the weekends. So be it you can ask for the moon, but know one said they would give it to you.
Banks... Need I Say More Oct 26 2010
So I go to withdraw the full amount to purchase my motorcycle first thing in the morning. I assumed that 4 business days would be enough for cibc to get their stuff together but evidently not. So I was left $600 short, and I did not want to dink the guy with the bike around so I had t think of a plan b.
Plan b was to use my credit card, which I am always hesitant to use just because credit card companies are out there to screw us over with interest. The nice thing was that I had a car ride to and form the bank so I was not forced to ruin my board or get soaking wet. Neither option sounded too appealing at the time.
Over the next little bit I am going to work on my peak threshold endurance because right now even after sprinting 100 metres I am just toasted. My muscles hurt, and my heart is racing like a beaver. If I am going to get back on the track I need to fix that, and get used to my race bike again. I will save that for another day.
Nighttime came quick, which got me excited because that meant that it was almost time to go look at my first motorcycle. To put it in prospective I was not this excited when I got my car. It is similar to a few of my first Christmas memories… except not.
When dad showed up he handed me the visa slips from when was gone. Open the first one up and all is normal. I expected to see a $55 credit for the ticket I did not pay but put the money on my credit card for. So I open the next one and see that I am in debt close to $300. I hit the panic switch and think, “who used this”, “it was not stolen I have it in my wallet”. Even dad was baffled. It took us about 10 mins to figure out that they had combined both of out statements together into one. Thank heavens because that would have been a pretty nasty surprise.
Before I knew it there it was. A motorcycle that could be mine right in front of me. Now pitch black outside with nothing to see it but florescent lights their Ben Lee was. I never know what to do in scenarios like this I mean I do not know what the f I am doing so I am relying 100% on my dad and Ben. It is a strange feeling when you have no idea whets going on, and I very quickly came to the realization that I need to get my butt practicing a.s.a.p. In order to not die on public roads. The home depot parking lot is going to be my friend for the next little while.
The bike itself was a beauty. I love the look, and love the sound. Or lack there of. It has its issues but it is a bike that is as old as me. I know I have my battle wounds so it would be irrational of me to expect it to be a new bike. Still the better got of me and I walked away. Within seconds of coming home I was back on the classified sites looking and looking until my eyes started to water. Healthy I know. Then a second great learner bike came up, a buell blast. It says blast so it must be fun right…. I went to bed with thoughts of riding swirling in my head, it was like an addiction at this point.
Plan b was to use my credit card, which I am always hesitant to use just because credit card companies are out there to screw us over with interest. The nice thing was that I had a car ride to and form the bank so I was not forced to ruin my board or get soaking wet. Neither option sounded too appealing at the time.
Over the next little bit I am going to work on my peak threshold endurance because right now even after sprinting 100 metres I am just toasted. My muscles hurt, and my heart is racing like a beaver. If I am going to get back on the track I need to fix that, and get used to my race bike again. I will save that for another day.
Nighttime came quick, which got me excited because that meant that it was almost time to go look at my first motorcycle. To put it in prospective I was not this excited when I got my car. It is similar to a few of my first Christmas memories… except not.
When dad showed up he handed me the visa slips from when was gone. Open the first one up and all is normal. I expected to see a $55 credit for the ticket I did not pay but put the money on my credit card for. So I open the next one and see that I am in debt close to $300. I hit the panic switch and think, “who used this”, “it was not stolen I have it in my wallet”. Even dad was baffled. It took us about 10 mins to figure out that they had combined both of out statements together into one. Thank heavens because that would have been a pretty nasty surprise.
Before I knew it there it was. A motorcycle that could be mine right in front of me. Now pitch black outside with nothing to see it but florescent lights their Ben Lee was. I never know what to do in scenarios like this I mean I do not know what the f I am doing so I am relying 100% on my dad and Ben. It is a strange feeling when you have no idea whets going on, and I very quickly came to the realization that I need to get my butt practicing a.s.a.p. In order to not die on public roads. The home depot parking lot is going to be my friend for the next little while.
The bike itself was a beauty. I love the look, and love the sound. Or lack there of. It has its issues but it is a bike that is as old as me. I know I have my battle wounds so it would be irrational of me to expect it to be a new bike. Still the better got of me and I walked away. Within seconds of coming home I was back on the classified sites looking and looking until my eyes started to water. Healthy I know. Then a second great learner bike came up, a buell blast. It says blast so it must be fun right…. I went to bed with thoughts of riding swirling in my head, it was like an addiction at this point.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Rain Rain And Puddles Oct 25 2010
So I wake up at 7 and know I have a meeting with Rhys at 9:30. I am not stoked for this because this means I am going back to work. I know it is a necessary thing but it is just like when I left. Where as on the road every day is a new adventure. Every road is new. I was like a newborn baby for 4 months is what it boils down to. Now life has to restart.
With rain pouring outside I was thanking the heaven that I had a nice waterproof coat, and boots to strap on so that I would be nice and dry. The only thing I was lacking was an umbrella. Still I was better off then the girl standing at the bus stop in a tank top just completely drenched. I did not feel bad because she clearly had the option of a coat but just decided not to put it on.
The bus stop always seems so far away when you are walking to it. As well my bus passes that have been in my wallet through 3 cycles of the washing machine are super smooshed. I always have this mini panic attack that they are not going to work then everyone one the bus will look at me as if im trying to get on for free. Because we all know the opinions of the people on the buss really matter right. Luckily this time they worked so I was ok to ride the disease tube down to Westwood cycle.
The meeting itself was a meeting. It is what I expected. It is comforting to know that in tough times like this people want you back. It is a bit of an ego boost. Afterwards I had to venture back out into the pouring rain. By this point my pants were fairly wet so I figured an umbrella would be a worthy investment. In BC you would think that would be an easy thing to find but surprisingly no. At the pharmacies they had them hidden behind the front counter. It was as if they were selling drugs from behind the counter because I had to stroll up to the counter in a big puffy jacket and go “hey man you got umbrellas?” Then the teller says “Yo essay I gots them umbrellas right here for you homes”. “I need one big one, high quality. I want it to last more then 2 weeks”. “I got just the one right here”.
After that weird situation I was on the road to find my motorcycles home, which was right near my work. Again I must have looked pretty legitimate skulking around and peering beyond underground parking lots staring at this motorcycle. But because it was a crummy day I just decided to walk away and wait for the call from my dad to go look.
On the way home I decided to treat myself to a hot chocolate to warm myself back up to temperature so that I could push out the last kilometre of walking. I had my house in sight when this a whole smokes this puddle at mach 10 on purpose and just drenches me. My pants were soaked, boots were wet, and I was happy as ever. Who does that really? What a skumbag move on that guys part. Just breath deep and enjoy the now watered down hot chocolate.
With rain pouring outside I was thanking the heaven that I had a nice waterproof coat, and boots to strap on so that I would be nice and dry. The only thing I was lacking was an umbrella. Still I was better off then the girl standing at the bus stop in a tank top just completely drenched. I did not feel bad because she clearly had the option of a coat but just decided not to put it on.
The bus stop always seems so far away when you are walking to it. As well my bus passes that have been in my wallet through 3 cycles of the washing machine are super smooshed. I always have this mini panic attack that they are not going to work then everyone one the bus will look at me as if im trying to get on for free. Because we all know the opinions of the people on the buss really matter right. Luckily this time they worked so I was ok to ride the disease tube down to Westwood cycle.
The meeting itself was a meeting. It is what I expected. It is comforting to know that in tough times like this people want you back. It is a bit of an ego boost. Afterwards I had to venture back out into the pouring rain. By this point my pants were fairly wet so I figured an umbrella would be a worthy investment. In BC you would think that would be an easy thing to find but surprisingly no. At the pharmacies they had them hidden behind the front counter. It was as if they were selling drugs from behind the counter because I had to stroll up to the counter in a big puffy jacket and go “hey man you got umbrellas?” Then the teller says “Yo essay I gots them umbrellas right here for you homes”. “I need one big one, high quality. I want it to last more then 2 weeks”. “I got just the one right here”.
After that weird situation I was on the road to find my motorcycles home, which was right near my work. Again I must have looked pretty legitimate skulking around and peering beyond underground parking lots staring at this motorcycle. But because it was a crummy day I just decided to walk away and wait for the call from my dad to go look.
On the way home I decided to treat myself to a hot chocolate to warm myself back up to temperature so that I could push out the last kilometre of walking. I had my house in sight when this a whole smokes this puddle at mach 10 on purpose and just drenches me. My pants were soaked, boots were wet, and I was happy as ever. Who does that really? What a skumbag move on that guys part. Just breath deep and enjoy the now watered down hot chocolate.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Does Not Get Any Lazier... Sorry Oct 24 2010
So today’s blog really does not have much in it because I was lazy. It was a stretch to even feed myself. I just did not want to do anything because I was not looking forward to tomorrow. I know most of my blogs are filled with crazy stuff, or i make the boring stuff exciting but today that was not the case. I have a lot on the mind because my future is quickly approaching. I have to jump off this bridge of adulthood and commit to a plan... which sucks. So I spent most of the day thinking about nothing. At what point can I be content with a career? When do I stop?
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Not 100% Oct 23 2010
Today started with a bang. I saw a peering eye through my door so I said “im not up yet”. Mom says in response “I am leaving in 10 minutes to go to the dry cleaner. If you want to find a winter coat you have 10 minutes”. I was out of the bed like a rocket and in the shower getting myself de-smellied. I was out the door.
The first stop was marks work warehouse were everything was gigantic. I was getting the same feeling as last night. And was not feeling to positive about the outcome of this venture. After getting in and out we were on our way downtown to go to comor sports. Automatically when we walked in I got good feeling because it looked nice and they were playing good music (passion pit). Right away I made my way for the clearance rack and saw nothing in a small. Still not deterred I looked around and found a handful of smalls. After trying them on I took to liking this electric green number, but it was to small so I put on the medium. It fit like a glove. Using my thinking cap I looked for the last years model of that in a medium and found the exact one in black. I looked a bit like neo from the matrix but it fit amazing and was 40% off. I was sold.
On the ride back however things were not all great because I was not feeling 100%. I was hungry as a beaver ad my body was letting me know by making the roof of my mouth hurt. So within a few minutes we stopped at a local bistro in port moody. I had a breakfast wrap even though it was nearing noon. I do not know what they put inside of it but it tasted almost as good as ranch dressing on nachos.
Once home I phoned dad and told him that I wanted to see him. When he picked me up we decided to go look at some motorcycle gear. The first stop was this little one-man show, and the guy was just a huge wiener. He did not answer and questions and was super negative about everything. Needless to say he lost our business. The next lady at a reputable shop had no quality information. She simple told me “oo that ones road racy, that ones touring”. Thos are just words they don’t give me any information about the product and what to look for. Luckily after that we found cam at holeshot motorsports. He was kickasser. Gave me a ton of good information and was not pressuring me into anything. Knowing I was not buying today he even gave me the heads up on a new shipment of the jackets I want that is coming in next week. STOKED. It is something about putting on a full-face motorcycle helmet that makes you feel SO b.a. (Badass). The fact that they offer awesome protection also helps. I am kind of hoping that I can fit into some of my dads older gear though because that means I can either save some funds or invest it in the countless other things involved in getting ready to ride.
As you know my life is go go go so when I got home I was only in for a few minutes before kev was on my doorstep ready to ride. No hill climbing for me on the mountain bike today we had a car. I was expecting to feel like a puma climbing on my bike but it was not the case because I am so used to putting in huge efforts all day that a short high intensity 15-minute climb was not my forte. The downhill was a little scary. It was like being a kid again because it felt so foreign. It was loose, a little wet, and starting to rain things could not be any better for re-teaching yourself how to ride a mountain bike. Luckily I only had to pucker my butt three times, and kept up with kev for the most part… even though I think we was dialling back the speed.
Once home my throat was feeling a little sore and after a nap I knew that the plans for the Halloween part tonight just were not going to happen. But ce la vie.
The first stop was marks work warehouse were everything was gigantic. I was getting the same feeling as last night. And was not feeling to positive about the outcome of this venture. After getting in and out we were on our way downtown to go to comor sports. Automatically when we walked in I got good feeling because it looked nice and they were playing good music (passion pit). Right away I made my way for the clearance rack and saw nothing in a small. Still not deterred I looked around and found a handful of smalls. After trying them on I took to liking this electric green number, but it was to small so I put on the medium. It fit like a glove. Using my thinking cap I looked for the last years model of that in a medium and found the exact one in black. I looked a bit like neo from the matrix but it fit amazing and was 40% off. I was sold.
On the ride back however things were not all great because I was not feeling 100%. I was hungry as a beaver ad my body was letting me know by making the roof of my mouth hurt. So within a few minutes we stopped at a local bistro in port moody. I had a breakfast wrap even though it was nearing noon. I do not know what they put inside of it but it tasted almost as good as ranch dressing on nachos.
Once home I phoned dad and told him that I wanted to see him. When he picked me up we decided to go look at some motorcycle gear. The first stop was this little one-man show, and the guy was just a huge wiener. He did not answer and questions and was super negative about everything. Needless to say he lost our business. The next lady at a reputable shop had no quality information. She simple told me “oo that ones road racy, that ones touring”. Thos are just words they don’t give me any information about the product and what to look for. Luckily after that we found cam at holeshot motorsports. He was kickasser. Gave me a ton of good information and was not pressuring me into anything. Knowing I was not buying today he even gave me the heads up on a new shipment of the jackets I want that is coming in next week. STOKED. It is something about putting on a full-face motorcycle helmet that makes you feel SO b.a. (Badass). The fact that they offer awesome protection also helps. I am kind of hoping that I can fit into some of my dads older gear though because that means I can either save some funds or invest it in the countless other things involved in getting ready to ride.
As you know my life is go go go so when I got home I was only in for a few minutes before kev was on my doorstep ready to ride. No hill climbing for me on the mountain bike today we had a car. I was expecting to feel like a puma climbing on my bike but it was not the case because I am so used to putting in huge efforts all day that a short high intensity 15-minute climb was not my forte. The downhill was a little scary. It was like being a kid again because it felt so foreign. It was loose, a little wet, and starting to rain things could not be any better for re-teaching yourself how to ride a mountain bike. Luckily I only had to pucker my butt three times, and kept up with kev for the most part… even though I think we was dialling back the speed.
Once home my throat was feeling a little sore and after a nap I knew that the plans for the Halloween part tonight just were not going to happen. But ce la vie.
Christina Lake... What A Memory Oct 21 2010
With my passport dry after going through the washing machine today was the day. Today was the day I get my motorcycle license. I got on my bike and went to the road test centre and got one of the books and raced home. Once home I put that book on the desk and promptly got distracted by everything else around me. I thought to myself ill just read it tonight and take the test tomorrow. I then looked at the weather network and saw rain for the next 4 days. For some reason that triggered me to get on my bike and go back to take the test right then.
At the centre I realized that I forgot 2 pieces of id so I had to go back and get my passport. On the way back I started to question what I was doing. The biggest question on my mind was “what if I pass”? When I stormed into the office and grabbed my passport I was surprised when I did not receive 20 questions about why I needed it.
Now back at the Centre I paid my dues and stood looking at a screen. A screen that determined whether I was fit on the road or not. Things did not start off well when I promptly go the first question wrong. After that things quickly improved. Really everything seemed like common sense as a crummy car driver, and a good cyclist. In order to pass you were able to get 8 of the 40 questions wrong, which I found amazing. Shouldn’t we be making sure people know most things about the road and not some of it.
Well I passed and was over the moon. Without ever starting up a motorcycle, learning the mechanics of one, or even cracking the learners manual I was now able to ride one. Kind of scary when I think about it. All I know is that I am ready to learn. Which intern means knowing my limits? Which as it stands now is everything. Luckily my dad is a great rider so I am trusting him to guide me down this path with a patient mind. I guess that means a motorcycle in the driveway is going to become a reality in the near future.
I could not contain myself so I had to share the good news with friends. So I went right over to Courts house. E-dawg and C-Donkey reunite for the first time in a long time. This time I was not on the doorstep on the brink of tears in serious need of a friend, which seemed like a common theme for the last 2 visits to her place. Court is simply an awesome person. It is strange how similar we are. She is like talking with one of the guys (if I had guy friends). We talked about everything from skating to girls. One of the funniest things is the fact that we have the exact same taste in women, funny how that works.
It is also funny to see how we have not matured. When I got back from the trip I was feeling all high and mighty about how different I was but really not much has changed. I am still myself and I still enjoy the same things in life. One of the highlights of the night was looking back on some of our favourite memories together. The best of which came in Christina Lake. The family and court made the 7-hour trek to the coldest tree lined lake in B.C. roughly 7 years ago. After 7 hours f my sisters putrid farts and the most uncomfortable gm seats in the world there we were staring down our home for the next 8 days. My sister and I had visions of a nice lakeside house; instead we had a 80’s trailer that reeked of shag carpet. Court and I talked about the things we saw and how little we did on this trip. About the only thing that stood out was possibly the largest argument of my childhood. It all started because of a remote. This remote controlled the air-conditioning that was turned off at the time the remote was lost. Apparently I was the last one to use it so I was the first to get yelled at by mom. For days this went on until I finally lost it. I remember that this was the first time I ever dropped an f bomb in front of my mom on purpose. Days later after the dust had settled someone found it in a pot that was below a well-placed pan. It was planted and I am pretty sure it was my sister because I remember she made Kraft dinner the night before the disappearance. Court and I still to this day wonder what my sister did t fill those days.
At the centre I realized that I forgot 2 pieces of id so I had to go back and get my passport. On the way back I started to question what I was doing. The biggest question on my mind was “what if I pass”? When I stormed into the office and grabbed my passport I was surprised when I did not receive 20 questions about why I needed it.
Now back at the Centre I paid my dues and stood looking at a screen. A screen that determined whether I was fit on the road or not. Things did not start off well when I promptly go the first question wrong. After that things quickly improved. Really everything seemed like common sense as a crummy car driver, and a good cyclist. In order to pass you were able to get 8 of the 40 questions wrong, which I found amazing. Shouldn’t we be making sure people know most things about the road and not some of it.
Well I passed and was over the moon. Without ever starting up a motorcycle, learning the mechanics of one, or even cracking the learners manual I was now able to ride one. Kind of scary when I think about it. All I know is that I am ready to learn. Which intern means knowing my limits? Which as it stands now is everything. Luckily my dad is a great rider so I am trusting him to guide me down this path with a patient mind. I guess that means a motorcycle in the driveway is going to become a reality in the near future.
I could not contain myself so I had to share the good news with friends. So I went right over to Courts house. E-dawg and C-Donkey reunite for the first time in a long time. This time I was not on the doorstep on the brink of tears in serious need of a friend, which seemed like a common theme for the last 2 visits to her place. Court is simply an awesome person. It is strange how similar we are. She is like talking with one of the guys (if I had guy friends). We talked about everything from skating to girls. One of the funniest things is the fact that we have the exact same taste in women, funny how that works.
It is also funny to see how we have not matured. When I got back from the trip I was feeling all high and mighty about how different I was but really not much has changed. I am still myself and I still enjoy the same things in life. One of the highlights of the night was looking back on some of our favourite memories together. The best of which came in Christina Lake. The family and court made the 7-hour trek to the coldest tree lined lake in B.C. roughly 7 years ago. After 7 hours f my sisters putrid farts and the most uncomfortable gm seats in the world there we were staring down our home for the next 8 days. My sister and I had visions of a nice lakeside house; instead we had a 80’s trailer that reeked of shag carpet. Court and I talked about the things we saw and how little we did on this trip. About the only thing that stood out was possibly the largest argument of my childhood. It all started because of a remote. This remote controlled the air-conditioning that was turned off at the time the remote was lost. Apparently I was the last one to use it so I was the first to get yelled at by mom. For days this went on until I finally lost it. I remember that this was the first time I ever dropped an f bomb in front of my mom on purpose. Days later after the dust had settled someone found it in a pot that was below a well-placed pan. It was planted and I am pretty sure it was my sister because I remember she made Kraft dinner the night before the disappearance. Court and I still to this day wonder what my sister did t fill those days.
Massholes and Trivial Drama Oct 22 2010
After silencing my alarm 3 times it was time to get my butt moving. I don’t know what it was but I popped off the side of my bed instead of the front like I normally do. Apparently my gut knew something my mind did not because there in front of my bed was a stack of feathers, a wing, and a cat looking prouder then ever. Even though mom was working I yelled, “be on the lookout for a wingless bird”. To which I got a response of “where is it”. In retrospect I should have said her bed just to get a quick laugh but when I said in front of my bed I could hear a sigh of relief.
Next came a good workout. Few things are as fun as running in the rain and getting nice and wet. At least the wetness masks smell of sweat and Gatorade. The only unfortunate thing is my legs have been acting up. Even with stretching and enough tiger bomb to sink the Bismarck my calves are still hurting. Ce la vie though because I am not going to stop working out.
After that it was time to sit down and make some plans for the evening. Last minute as usual but by now everyone who is close to me knows that is how I roll. Thing were going good. My ticket that I tried paying 3 times finally went through. But now they want more money so I have to wait in a call cue for another 1.5 hours to get to someone and give them a piece of my mind. There is no way I am paying another $55 on top of my $50 ticket because there systems would not let me pay for a ticket. I will read off the confirmation numbers to them in series and tell them to pound it. I am not bitter at all. There is a reason they call them Massholes.
It was right after that ticket getting paid that I got a series messages that upset me. It is not very often I let people get to me but this did. When my mom asked “is something wrong”. I lied and said, “No, everything is fine”. Girl troubles I will leave it at that. I can hear my dad sighing saying to himself “o great”. I can already hear the onslaught of questions I am going to hear after people read this. But I would really prefer to simply drop it. When you wear your heart on your sleeve all the time eventually people will stomp on said heart.
That’s why I have friends. Within 5 minutes Kristi was at more doorstep to sweep me away for the night and it was needed. I was not down for sitting in her basement the whole night so we decided to go frustrate ourselves with shopping. My goal was simple a warm winter coat that is not size huge. First stop Winners. It was like a case of the three bears. One was two small, the other to big, and then the third to thin. What I found amazing was that there was only 3 winter coats in a size small in the entire store. The best part was Kristi’s shopping experience. She had this item that was missing a button so we were reasonable when we asked for a discount. What was not reasonable was the response we got. “Let me call my manager.” “Yea we can discount that by $1”. At that point we just walked out of the store. $1 that’s just an insult. Good luck trying to sell that piece of garbage top to anyone before it goes in the 50% off bin, and enjoy having that in you inventory forever.
After that we went to the mall where I encountered ore frustration. Every store had a wide selection of jackets for men but they were all shells or medium weight. Literally nothing that fit was a heavier weight jacket for the winter. If you did not want to wear 3 layers you had a few options, but they all started at $250 and up which just was not working for me.
Luckily we had a success story. Apple sider from this Christmas specific store. It came in this little package that was $9 but Kristi was not sure it it was the same mix from when she was a kid so the lady said, “here we have a package that was dropped on the ground and has a puncture smell it”. Kristi knew right away it was the right stuff and purchased one package of the stuff, but before it got rung through I said “hold on a second how about $1 for the busted package (that I saw was ¾ full)”? I expected a triumphant no, but was surprised to hear a “sure no problem”. Got to love shopping with a cheap ass.
Next came a good workout. Few things are as fun as running in the rain and getting nice and wet. At least the wetness masks smell of sweat and Gatorade. The only unfortunate thing is my legs have been acting up. Even with stretching and enough tiger bomb to sink the Bismarck my calves are still hurting. Ce la vie though because I am not going to stop working out.
After that it was time to sit down and make some plans for the evening. Last minute as usual but by now everyone who is close to me knows that is how I roll. Thing were going good. My ticket that I tried paying 3 times finally went through. But now they want more money so I have to wait in a call cue for another 1.5 hours to get to someone and give them a piece of my mind. There is no way I am paying another $55 on top of my $50 ticket because there systems would not let me pay for a ticket. I will read off the confirmation numbers to them in series and tell them to pound it. I am not bitter at all. There is a reason they call them Massholes.
It was right after that ticket getting paid that I got a series messages that upset me. It is not very often I let people get to me but this did. When my mom asked “is something wrong”. I lied and said, “No, everything is fine”. Girl troubles I will leave it at that. I can hear my dad sighing saying to himself “o great”. I can already hear the onslaught of questions I am going to hear after people read this. But I would really prefer to simply drop it. When you wear your heart on your sleeve all the time eventually people will stomp on said heart.
That’s why I have friends. Within 5 minutes Kristi was at more doorstep to sweep me away for the night and it was needed. I was not down for sitting in her basement the whole night so we decided to go frustrate ourselves with shopping. My goal was simple a warm winter coat that is not size huge. First stop Winners. It was like a case of the three bears. One was two small, the other to big, and then the third to thin. What I found amazing was that there was only 3 winter coats in a size small in the entire store. The best part was Kristi’s shopping experience. She had this item that was missing a button so we were reasonable when we asked for a discount. What was not reasonable was the response we got. “Let me call my manager.” “Yea we can discount that by $1”. At that point we just walked out of the store. $1 that’s just an insult. Good luck trying to sell that piece of garbage top to anyone before it goes in the 50% off bin, and enjoy having that in you inventory forever.
After that we went to the mall where I encountered ore frustration. Every store had a wide selection of jackets for men but they were all shells or medium weight. Literally nothing that fit was a heavier weight jacket for the winter. If you did not want to wear 3 layers you had a few options, but they all started at $250 and up which just was not working for me.
Luckily we had a success story. Apple sider from this Christmas specific store. It came in this little package that was $9 but Kristi was not sure it it was the same mix from when she was a kid so the lady said, “here we have a package that was dropped on the ground and has a puncture smell it”. Kristi knew right away it was the right stuff and purchased one package of the stuff, but before it got rung through I said “hold on a second how about $1 for the busted package (that I saw was ¾ full)”? I expected a triumphant no, but was surprised to hear a “sure no problem”. Got to love shopping with a cheap ass.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Be Safe Oct 20 2010
So I am behind a day in blogs but I have been struggling to find time t breath let alone type. When I have a second to relax the last thing I am thinking about is “I really want to type about my life”. Tomorrow morning though I pledge to catch up to date.
After yet another late night I was stuck shutting off my alarm to catch a few more precious moments of sleep before the light started to peer through my blinds. When the light comes in that means that I have overslept and need to get my butt moving.
At this point I forget what I did to fill two hours but I can guarantee you it involved eating and reading the paper while I watched the morning news. You can never overdose on news so just cram it in. It seems like you can not get a positive stories these days so when the tri cities news contacted me to run a story in the paper I was thrilled because I am sick of reading about all of the junk that happening to our area these days. About 15 minutes after the paper called the newsroom gave me a ring. Unfortunately is as not around so I had to return the call to a guy who took all my information but I am pretty sure did not relay the message.
While shaving my hair down the the scalp I hear the doorbell. I forgot I invited my old friend Jamie over to do some rekindling. It is hyperawsome that she is living back in coquitlam because we here best friends back in the days of the old neighbourhood I really don’t remember what we spent 3 hours talking about but it was a good waste of time.
After that it was time to leave. Not before we found out Jamie left her lights on and killed her battery. So leans were put on hold while we waiting for bcaa to come give a jump because my cables are in my hot rod and not at home. After ben came by to help us out I was on my way to talk with Rhys about work and possibly get a smoking deal on some shoes at the shoe warehouse.
Again plans are only good if they work and these did not. Rhys was not at work, and the shoe warehouse had no shoes for 13 bucks like I thought they all said $25. Still I tried some on and found a comfy pair. I needed new kickers for skating and mountain biking so why not get two. When the lady at the counter said, “you total is $25”. I said in response “for 2”? She nodded and I paid her. Turn out the shoes were 50% of the clearance price just to get rid of them. With no room to carry them my old beaten up converses from an outlet mall in the states we went to 5 years ago to get my sister a bathing suit from a Victoria Secret that eneded up not having the suit she wanted laid there next to a garbage can for some homeless man to wear.
When I got back and was faced with 24 middle-aged women screaming I was ready to head right back out the door, but not before being a little social first. T was right then I remembered that I was supposed to be at my neighbour’s house to catch up with them and get the low down on how the rest of the family is doing.
After that visit I was back on the road again to go spend the evening with Megan and her brother Jake watching episodes of a web series called the guild, and looking at old photos. After a good dose of laughs sleep was starting to creep into my mind so I had to hit the road and start skating home. When I arrived back the last thing I expected to see was my mom and gay still up partying. I got in just as they were heading to bed and I remember very clearly something gay said. As my mom walked up the stairs she said “good night”. To which gay said, “be safe”. Which I thought was an odd thing to say because what was there to be safe about I mean a bed was only 20 feet away. Still I got a bit of a chuckle out of it as I ate my semi stale nesquik cereal.
After yet another late night I was stuck shutting off my alarm to catch a few more precious moments of sleep before the light started to peer through my blinds. When the light comes in that means that I have overslept and need to get my butt moving.
At this point I forget what I did to fill two hours but I can guarantee you it involved eating and reading the paper while I watched the morning news. You can never overdose on news so just cram it in. It seems like you can not get a positive stories these days so when the tri cities news contacted me to run a story in the paper I was thrilled because I am sick of reading about all of the junk that happening to our area these days. About 15 minutes after the paper called the newsroom gave me a ring. Unfortunately is as not around so I had to return the call to a guy who took all my information but I am pretty sure did not relay the message.
While shaving my hair down the the scalp I hear the doorbell. I forgot I invited my old friend Jamie over to do some rekindling. It is hyperawsome that she is living back in coquitlam because we here best friends back in the days of the old neighbourhood I really don’t remember what we spent 3 hours talking about but it was a good waste of time.
After that it was time to leave. Not before we found out Jamie left her lights on and killed her battery. So leans were put on hold while we waiting for bcaa to come give a jump because my cables are in my hot rod and not at home. After ben came by to help us out I was on my way to talk with Rhys about work and possibly get a smoking deal on some shoes at the shoe warehouse.
Again plans are only good if they work and these did not. Rhys was not at work, and the shoe warehouse had no shoes for 13 bucks like I thought they all said $25. Still I tried some on and found a comfy pair. I needed new kickers for skating and mountain biking so why not get two. When the lady at the counter said, “you total is $25”. I said in response “for 2”? She nodded and I paid her. Turn out the shoes were 50% of the clearance price just to get rid of them. With no room to carry them my old beaten up converses from an outlet mall in the states we went to 5 years ago to get my sister a bathing suit from a Victoria Secret that eneded up not having the suit she wanted laid there next to a garbage can for some homeless man to wear.
When I got back and was faced with 24 middle-aged women screaming I was ready to head right back out the door, but not before being a little social first. T was right then I remembered that I was supposed to be at my neighbour’s house to catch up with them and get the low down on how the rest of the family is doing.
After that visit I was back on the road again to go spend the evening with Megan and her brother Jake watching episodes of a web series called the guild, and looking at old photos. After a good dose of laughs sleep was starting to creep into my mind so I had to hit the road and start skating home. When I arrived back the last thing I expected to see was my mom and gay still up partying. I got in just as they were heading to bed and I remember very clearly something gay said. As my mom walked up the stairs she said “good night”. To which gay said, “be safe”. Which I thought was an odd thing to say because what was there to be safe about I mean a bed was only 20 feet away. Still I got a bit of a chuckle out of it as I ate my semi stale nesquik cereal.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
No matter How Tired Dont Froget To Blog Oct 19 2010
So I pooped the bed. Even though I was tired should have done my blog yesterday because now 24 hours later I have forgotten the smaller detail of the day. So this blog will be a little shorter because it will only cover the larger things.
The beauty of being on vacation is I can start at whatever pace I feel like, and today I started slow. I knew what laid ahead for me was a tub of laundry to fold, a cycling drawer to rifle through and some bike stuff that needed to be done. So I figured I would get a head start and watch some starcraft 2 highlights. For those who don’t know Starcraft is one of the nerdiest pc games ever created but watching competitive play is strangely addicting and interesting.
By the time I got showered and de-nerdified I was ready to tackle the laundry. This is when I realized that I have way too much cycling gear. I now have two drawers full with a certain amount of cupboard space dedicated to shorts as well. The nice thing with the trip is it wore out a few of my jerseys and all of my shorts so I now have some track gear that I can race with and crash on with now hard feelings, because when I ate it and wrecked my new jailhouse arm warmers I was a little miffed.
A day earlier I spoke with Mr. Chambers and asked what time he would be free because I know he is a busy man. He told me 1:30. So at 1:30 on the nose I show up and wait patiently. Within 5 mins I knew what was going to happen. Another 10 mins pass and he came flying out of his office and put one arm around my shoulder and said Evan bud I forgot I have parent teacher interviews tonight starting in 30 minutes. I told him not to worry, and that like arny “I’ll be back”.
Feeling the savings of time I decided to go get something that would warm me up in the winter. Again me shopping I was in and out of marks work warehouse in 5 minutes and was set up with something that will keep my core warm through the cold weather. I also got an unexpected savings, which is always nice.
After that the day was pretty normal until I had to make plans for the evening. I hate letting people down but when I had 2 chat conversations going with someone on the phone it was just getting out of hand. What came of all of it was nice evenings with Kristi where we chatted and got to watch a pretty kick butt movie called get him to the Greek. I also had the most wicked conversation with a mutual friend of ours Marshall who was being a bit of a weirdo so I called him out on it in traditional Evan in you face fashion.
The beauty of being on vacation is I can start at whatever pace I feel like, and today I started slow. I knew what laid ahead for me was a tub of laundry to fold, a cycling drawer to rifle through and some bike stuff that needed to be done. So I figured I would get a head start and watch some starcraft 2 highlights. For those who don’t know Starcraft is one of the nerdiest pc games ever created but watching competitive play is strangely addicting and interesting.
By the time I got showered and de-nerdified I was ready to tackle the laundry. This is when I realized that I have way too much cycling gear. I now have two drawers full with a certain amount of cupboard space dedicated to shorts as well. The nice thing with the trip is it wore out a few of my jerseys and all of my shorts so I now have some track gear that I can race with and crash on with now hard feelings, because when I ate it and wrecked my new jailhouse arm warmers I was a little miffed.
A day earlier I spoke with Mr. Chambers and asked what time he would be free because I know he is a busy man. He told me 1:30. So at 1:30 on the nose I show up and wait patiently. Within 5 mins I knew what was going to happen. Another 10 mins pass and he came flying out of his office and put one arm around my shoulder and said Evan bud I forgot I have parent teacher interviews tonight starting in 30 minutes. I told him not to worry, and that like arny “I’ll be back”.
Feeling the savings of time I decided to go get something that would warm me up in the winter. Again me shopping I was in and out of marks work warehouse in 5 minutes and was set up with something that will keep my core warm through the cold weather. I also got an unexpected savings, which is always nice.
After that the day was pretty normal until I had to make plans for the evening. I hate letting people down but when I had 2 chat conversations going with someone on the phone it was just getting out of hand. What came of all of it was nice evenings with Kristi where we chatted and got to watch a pretty kick butt movie called get him to the Greek. I also had the most wicked conversation with a mutual friend of ours Marshall who was being a bit of a weirdo so I called him out on it in traditional Evan in you face fashion.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Crazy Days Oct 18 2010
After taking my sweet time to get home last night I ended up getting to sleep at close to 2am because of bloging and wasting time. So when I woke up at 10 it was not really too much of a surprise. I was going to start my day with making plans with people but I was feeling lazy because I have not done any hard workouts in about a week. It was time to lace up and hit the ground running.
Once I was suited up in skins from head to toe, looking really intimidating in my matching spandex compression wear I was ready to workout. Now the way I usually run is simple get out and go for 2 hours and run as hard as I can. One thing the trip taught me is that not warming up destroys your muscles (as evidence from the kickboxing class shows). This time I decided to spend some time and dedicated myself to a proper warm up and cool down, and boy did it help. I felt quick. After 4 100m sprints I started doing 5 lap endurance efforts, then took it easy. Now instead of just walking home I decided to stay and talk with a few old friends at school. First up were Mr. Cambers and Dr. Provost. Both equally amazed that I got back so quick. Then after that a talk with Coach K. Coach K is a man that seems to have done everything. Whenever I want to get advice about my next crazy idea he is always a good person to go to because he has done it or has a sound opinion on how I could best accomplish it. Then once done said event I can come back and talk about it and realize that he was not blowing smoke up my… you know. Now here is were I made a plan with Mr. Chambers for coffee tomorrow.
After getting home and de-smellied I was back on the road to meet with Kristy to go for lunch at Happy Chinese Food. I am not sure what about this small restaurant was happy, but it sure was not the decor or the 1970’s building it was placed in. Now I am a guy who likes to throw curve balls so when Kristy asks me “what are you getting”? Most would give a simple answer. I instead say “you ordering for the both of us”. Which would be easy if the owner spoke any English. About the only thing we could make out was that the order Kristy wanted to make was not possible so she scrambled to create some other monster of a Chinese food dish that would stuff us with MSG. It was good spending some one on one time with friends. When everyone was at the airport all at once it was very overwhelming. Where as in a setting like that I can tell stories that fit with those people and situations not just some broad statement about which place I liked most then having to spend 15 minutes qualifying said statement.
Now after last night episode of not fitting into my jeans because my butt and legs were to large to fit in them I knew I had to go to the mall, which is one of my least favourite places in the world. So I figured I would ask Kristy if she wanted to come shopping with the mother unit and I. Surprisingly she said yes but then backtracked and said what can be summed up as “if you scare me off a bus stop is 20 feet away”.
The way I shop is can be described in one word, power. How long does it take for a girl to buy 3 pairs of jeans? Possibly an entire day. I hauled Swope into 2 stores walked through without stopping and saw nothing. The last stop was Bluenotes. I grabbed 3 pairs off the shelf tried them on got the girl seal of approval and was out the door in 15minutes. Now to get Kristy one top took the remainder of our 30-minute time budget. Baby steps though Rome was not built in a day so I cant expect to change the way females shop in one day, there is always tomorrow though, then the next day.
Now at home I dropped my bag and was off to visit the neighbours who had been loyal blog followers. The picture I remember of the heffelfingers is of a family that was very sheltered and not very outgoing. Well those thoughts were completely wrong. This was really the first time I have spent time and talked with them in a long time. It was good to hear that Leslie hitchhiked New Zealand, that Anna is not the cleanest person in the world (slob was actually the word used but in a nice way), and that the boyfriend is an average guy that drives a car that seemingly brakes down all the time. Maybe it is the trip but I now realize that 99% of people are normal. What is normal? Normal is getting worried about someone leaving on a trip. Normal is enjoying spending time with people new or old, young or old. Normal is just… I want to finish this statement but I don’t have a third thing yet and don’t want to force it but it will come.
The came a quick grilled cheese and I was back on the road to Kristi Wilson’s to disrupt her while she tried to study for a midterm. Things were strangely normal. I don’t really have much more to say then that, it is looking like tomorrow is going to be equally crazy because I have said to 4 people that I can make time for them. So make time I must. Sorry to anymore if im not responding quickly because I have been all over the map.
Once I was suited up in skins from head to toe, looking really intimidating in my matching spandex compression wear I was ready to workout. Now the way I usually run is simple get out and go for 2 hours and run as hard as I can. One thing the trip taught me is that not warming up destroys your muscles (as evidence from the kickboxing class shows). This time I decided to spend some time and dedicated myself to a proper warm up and cool down, and boy did it help. I felt quick. After 4 100m sprints I started doing 5 lap endurance efforts, then took it easy. Now instead of just walking home I decided to stay and talk with a few old friends at school. First up were Mr. Cambers and Dr. Provost. Both equally amazed that I got back so quick. Then after that a talk with Coach K. Coach K is a man that seems to have done everything. Whenever I want to get advice about my next crazy idea he is always a good person to go to because he has done it or has a sound opinion on how I could best accomplish it. Then once done said event I can come back and talk about it and realize that he was not blowing smoke up my… you know. Now here is were I made a plan with Mr. Chambers for coffee tomorrow.
After getting home and de-smellied I was back on the road to meet with Kristy to go for lunch at Happy Chinese Food. I am not sure what about this small restaurant was happy, but it sure was not the decor or the 1970’s building it was placed in. Now I am a guy who likes to throw curve balls so when Kristy asks me “what are you getting”? Most would give a simple answer. I instead say “you ordering for the both of us”. Which would be easy if the owner spoke any English. About the only thing we could make out was that the order Kristy wanted to make was not possible so she scrambled to create some other monster of a Chinese food dish that would stuff us with MSG. It was good spending some one on one time with friends. When everyone was at the airport all at once it was very overwhelming. Where as in a setting like that I can tell stories that fit with those people and situations not just some broad statement about which place I liked most then having to spend 15 minutes qualifying said statement.
Now after last night episode of not fitting into my jeans because my butt and legs were to large to fit in them I knew I had to go to the mall, which is one of my least favourite places in the world. So I figured I would ask Kristy if she wanted to come shopping with the mother unit and I. Surprisingly she said yes but then backtracked and said what can be summed up as “if you scare me off a bus stop is 20 feet away”.
The way I shop is can be described in one word, power. How long does it take for a girl to buy 3 pairs of jeans? Possibly an entire day. I hauled Swope into 2 stores walked through without stopping and saw nothing. The last stop was Bluenotes. I grabbed 3 pairs off the shelf tried them on got the girl seal of approval and was out the door in 15minutes. Now to get Kristy one top took the remainder of our 30-minute time budget. Baby steps though Rome was not built in a day so I cant expect to change the way females shop in one day, there is always tomorrow though, then the next day.
Now at home I dropped my bag and was off to visit the neighbours who had been loyal blog followers. The picture I remember of the heffelfingers is of a family that was very sheltered and not very outgoing. Well those thoughts were completely wrong. This was really the first time I have spent time and talked with them in a long time. It was good to hear that Leslie hitchhiked New Zealand, that Anna is not the cleanest person in the world (slob was actually the word used but in a nice way), and that the boyfriend is an average guy that drives a car that seemingly brakes down all the time. Maybe it is the trip but I now realize that 99% of people are normal. What is normal? Normal is getting worried about someone leaving on a trip. Normal is enjoying spending time with people new or old, young or old. Normal is just… I want to finish this statement but I don’t have a third thing yet and don’t want to force it but it will come.
The came a quick grilled cheese and I was back on the road to Kristi Wilson’s to disrupt her while she tried to study for a midterm. Things were strangely normal. I don’t really have much more to say then that, it is looking like tomorrow is going to be equally crazy because I have said to 4 people that I can make time for them. So make time I must. Sorry to anymore if im not responding quickly because I have been all over the map.
Back To Semi-Normal Life Oct 17 2010
It is strange for me to be reflecting back on when I got into YVR because it seems like so long ago. When really it was only 27 hours ago.
When my flight landed I had to wait to get my bags after literally walking through customs. It was a lot easier flying then it was shipping my stuff home from Austin, and about the same price as well. When I came around the corner to find my box wide open I had a mini panic attack but it looked as if everything was there so I loaded it on my cart and walked right out the Dorr. But only after taking about every single pole because my load was so wide.
Once out the doors I saw a large group of people and banners. It was an odd thing to see because I was anticipating simply saying hello and getting on the way. But this kicked way more butt. It was really nice seeing everyone for the first time. The only problem was I did not know how to react. Should I be yelling and cheering, crying, or play it cool. I decided that keeping calm would be my best bet. After exchanging a few hugs per person and telling a few stories people started to disperse which was my cue to get out of the terminal, which I might add is about 10000000% better then LAX. With what can only be described as an entourage behind me a man said, “He must be important”. I said in response “I am as important as I look”. A cocky statement but a well-deserved one I think.
Within an hour there I was laying in my own bed, which felt strangely foreign. I thought I had new sheets, but no. I thought my room had been painted, but no. It was all just new to me.
Without an alarm to wake me I got to arise to the smell of pancakes. When you don’t have an alarm trust you gut to wake you. Once I had some food in my stomach I was ready to tackle the easy task of unpacking. Unpacking of my single luggage bag then led to going through my closet and purging clothing for Big Brothers, which led to going through every drawer to reorganize, which led to fixing my desktop computer, which then led to recycling some old bicycle parts in the garage, and of course laundry. Needless to say I had a full plate of thing to do and it still isn’t completed.
My clean room now looked like a bomb went off and when mom came by she looked horrified. I said I kept getting side tracked and getting 50% of one job done then moving on. Eventually though I did mange to get everything cleaned and organized the way I like. No flowers or candles anywhere like there was when I showed up.
It was a success to because the only thing missing was my fairly empty wallet. So I asked if I could get a ride to the mall to find another one. Happily she obliged and we set off to the mall, but first a stop in at Westwood cycle to warranty my camelback that was leaking.
When we got back of course I continued to search through things, and of course I found my old wallet. So now tomorrows task is to return the new one because I am cheap… even though it was a gift.
Just like that the phone blew up. People wanted to see me and get ahold of me. So I had a choice of plans hang out with various groups of old friends or form a bond with new people. I decided on the ladder to expand my horizons. After chilling out for an evening I was on my way back home. I have been rushing for 4 months straight and tonight on my long board sesh home was the first time I had a genuine moment of peace where I thought about nothing. It was just about pushing, a dead road, and pumping back and forth at 1am. I could not think of a better welcome home then the combination that was but together today.
Yesterdays blog is on my laptop and will be uploaded tomorrow when it is unpacked and up and running.
When my flight landed I had to wait to get my bags after literally walking through customs. It was a lot easier flying then it was shipping my stuff home from Austin, and about the same price as well. When I came around the corner to find my box wide open I had a mini panic attack but it looked as if everything was there so I loaded it on my cart and walked right out the Dorr. But only after taking about every single pole because my load was so wide.
Once out the doors I saw a large group of people and banners. It was an odd thing to see because I was anticipating simply saying hello and getting on the way. But this kicked way more butt. It was really nice seeing everyone for the first time. The only problem was I did not know how to react. Should I be yelling and cheering, crying, or play it cool. I decided that keeping calm would be my best bet. After exchanging a few hugs per person and telling a few stories people started to disperse which was my cue to get out of the terminal, which I might add is about 10000000% better then LAX. With what can only be described as an entourage behind me a man said, “He must be important”. I said in response “I am as important as I look”. A cocky statement but a well-deserved one I think.
Within an hour there I was laying in my own bed, which felt strangely foreign. I thought I had new sheets, but no. I thought my room had been painted, but no. It was all just new to me.
Without an alarm to wake me I got to arise to the smell of pancakes. When you don’t have an alarm trust you gut to wake you. Once I had some food in my stomach I was ready to tackle the easy task of unpacking. Unpacking of my single luggage bag then led to going through my closet and purging clothing for Big Brothers, which led to going through every drawer to reorganize, which led to fixing my desktop computer, which then led to recycling some old bicycle parts in the garage, and of course laundry. Needless to say I had a full plate of thing to do and it still isn’t completed.
My clean room now looked like a bomb went off and when mom came by she looked horrified. I said I kept getting side tracked and getting 50% of one job done then moving on. Eventually though I did mange to get everything cleaned and organized the way I like. No flowers or candles anywhere like there was when I showed up.
It was a success to because the only thing missing was my fairly empty wallet. So I asked if I could get a ride to the mall to find another one. Happily she obliged and we set off to the mall, but first a stop in at Westwood cycle to warranty my camelback that was leaking.
When we got back of course I continued to search through things, and of course I found my old wallet. So now tomorrows task is to return the new one because I am cheap… even though it was a gift.
Just like that the phone blew up. People wanted to see me and get ahold of me. So I had a choice of plans hang out with various groups of old friends or form a bond with new people. I decided on the ladder to expand my horizons. After chilling out for an evening I was on my way back home. I have been rushing for 4 months straight and tonight on my long board sesh home was the first time I had a genuine moment of peace where I thought about nothing. It was just about pushing, a dead road, and pumping back and forth at 1am. I could not think of a better welcome home then the combination that was but together today.
Yesterdays blog is on my laptop and will be uploaded tomorrow when it is unpacked and up and running.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Back Home REDONE Oct 16 2010
I apologize in advance todays blog is all over the map because I am worried about coming home. My mind is racing and does not know what to make of the whole situation. I have had over 110days to think of this moment and now it is here.
It was a stranger feeling this morning waking up and realizing that tonight I will be sleeping in my own bed. It was also a strange feeling knowing that I would be saying goodbye to the Holland family who have taken me in for the past week. Having the stability of a family unit was a big help in detoxing me from bike touring. That being said I think I have some attachment issues because I really was not looking forward to that goodbye.
I made the conscious choice to plant a butt firmly on the coach and spend some quality time thinking while watching a full day of college football. The sporting events were a great way to distract me from my own emotions because man they are going at 110%.
I would summarize the games that I watched but really it does not matter. At the end of the day it is simply guys smashing their bodies together in a coordinated fashion. Or in the case of the auburn game bodies running down the field for touchdowns.
Now I am going to cut to the meat of the day, which came when I entered the airport. Thankfully Babs and Rich walked me in and showed me where to go because I was a little nervous of the whole getting on a plane thing. After swiftly passing through security I was in a case of hurry up and wait. There I sat for two hours with nothing to ponder but my own insanity. That mixed with the awesomeness that is airport food.
Airport food. Let me rant on that for a second. I am hungry so thinking ahead that plane food is going to be a rip-off I decide I would be smart and buy a meal before I got on the plane. So I go to a reputable name like starbucks thinking that I could get a muffin or something of that nature. Well the muffin was half the size and double the price. It left me still hungry and my wallet a little lighter. Still its better then plane food.
So there I was sitting alone in an airport terminal. It was like a scene out of a movie. Slowly people started to trickle in with loved ones in tow. It was almost as if I had this weird funk around me because for 8 seats in either direction there was no one. It was a strange feeling of loneliness; I have traveled great distances of nothingness but here surrounded by people no one wanted to be around me. Then I thought about it from the opposite side of things. This world is as lonely as you want to make it. I was infact the problem here. If I wanted to be social it was up to me to take the reins and sit next to someone and start a conversation. That is the beauty of being human we get to decide the type of life we live.
Before I knew it I saw flight 1799 pulling into the gate. Shortly thereafter I was on the plan buckled in. Now I really rolled the dice because I could select a seat for 15 extra dollars or let them choose for free. When I was waiting to board I saw a large amount of children, which did not make my chances of sitting next to an adult good.
Before I knew it I was sitting on the plane ready to roll. All worked out for the best. I have an empty seat beside me, and a nice man going to visit family in Vancouver sitting by the window. This flight also came with a very pleasant surprise. I sat in my seat minding my own business thinking about home when the stewardess pats me on the shoulder and says “good job”. Odd. I then respond with a “how did you know”? She said kindly back “we have our ways”. So whoever got that organized thank you because as I type I have a few people asking about the trip after they made a lengthy announcement via the intercom. It helping to distract me from my own thoughts of life after riding. 110 Days wiser and still asking myself the same questions, perhaps it is something I will not find the answer to. Maybe I just have to throw myself at the wall and see if I stick to something (plus one cool point for using a poo reference again). I can see my friends and family reading this going “same old Evan”.
The landing and such will be uploaded tomorrow, as I will be getting in around 11pm and home by midnight. Needless to say I will be a little tired.
Remember if life is worth living its worth recording.
It was a stranger feeling this morning waking up and realizing that tonight I will be sleeping in my own bed. It was also a strange feeling knowing that I would be saying goodbye to the Holland family who have taken me in for the past week. Having the stability of a family unit was a big help in detoxing me from bike touring. That being said I think I have some attachment issues because I really was not looking forward to that goodbye.
I made the conscious choice to plant a butt firmly on the coach and spend some quality time thinking while watching a full day of college football. The sporting events were a great way to distract me from my own emotions because man they are going at 110%.
I would summarize the games that I watched but really it does not matter. At the end of the day it is simply guys smashing their bodies together in a coordinated fashion. Or in the case of the auburn game bodies running down the field for touchdowns.
Now I am going to cut to the meat of the day, which came when I entered the airport. Thankfully Babs and Rich walked me in and showed me where to go because I was a little nervous of the whole getting on a plane thing. After swiftly passing through security I was in a case of hurry up and wait. There I sat for two hours with nothing to ponder but my own insanity. That mixed with the awesomeness that is airport food.
Airport food. Let me rant on that for a second. I am hungry so thinking ahead that plane food is going to be a rip-off I decide I would be smart and buy a meal before I got on the plane. So I go to a reputable name like starbucks thinking that I could get a muffin or something of that nature. Well the muffin was half the size and double the price. It left me still hungry and my wallet a little lighter. Still its better then plane food.
So there I was sitting alone in an airport terminal. It was like a scene out of a movie. Slowly people started to trickle in with loved ones in tow. It was almost as if I had this weird funk around me because for 8 seats in either direction there was no one. It was a strange feeling of loneliness; I have traveled great distances of nothingness but here surrounded by people no one wanted to be around me. Then I thought about it from the opposite side of things. This world is as lonely as you want to make it. I was infact the problem here. If I wanted to be social it was up to me to take the reins and sit next to someone and start a conversation. That is the beauty of being human we get to decide the type of life we live.
Before I knew it I saw flight 1799 pulling into the gate. Shortly thereafter I was on the plan buckled in. Now I really rolled the dice because I could select a seat for 15 extra dollars or let them choose for free. When I was waiting to board I saw a large amount of children, which did not make my chances of sitting next to an adult good.
Before I knew it I was sitting on the plane ready to roll. All worked out for the best. I have an empty seat beside me, and a nice man going to visit family in Vancouver sitting by the window. This flight also came with a very pleasant surprise. I sat in my seat minding my own business thinking about home when the stewardess pats me on the shoulder and says “good job”. Odd. I then respond with a “how did you know”? She said kindly back “we have our ways”. So whoever got that organized thank you because as I type I have a few people asking about the trip after they made a lengthy announcement via the intercom. It helping to distract me from my own thoughts of life after riding. 110 Days wiser and still asking myself the same questions, perhaps it is something I will not find the answer to. Maybe I just have to throw myself at the wall and see if I stick to something (plus one cool point for using a poo reference again). I can see my friends and family reading this going “same old Evan”.
The landing and such will be uploaded tomorrow, as I will be getting in around 11pm and home by midnight. Needless to say I will be a little tired.
Remember if life is worth living its worth recording.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Surf and Soufflé Oct 15 2010
Ok so lets start this over again. Yesterday was both relaxing and a little chaotic. I started off with my regular of fibre 1 and a bagel and was ready what I thought was ready for surfing. My mind had jumped the gun though because beforehand I had to go through all of my stuff and make sure I packed everything and check the weight of my bag to make sure that my weight shedding was enough. According to the scale I am going to be within a couple pounds of the limit so fingers crossed they don’t skin me for that because that would hyper blow.
Now maybe it was the fact I was in vacation mode or simply the fact I was moving slow but noon came up far to quickly. I hear rich yell from downstairs “you ready to go”. I there on my trunks and was ready to hit the road. I could tell rich had done this before simply by the little things he packed, like a jug of hot water to warm our heads up after being in the water.
By the time we got on the road my stomach was in my throat. I am not a great swimmer, the ocean is huge, and I am small a perfect combination for someone to go surfing. Rich took me to a few of the local spots to do an extended surf check. If I am honest I wanted that to go on all day because from the look of the waves it was going to be sketchy. I considered bailing and saying “so how about go karts”, but I knew this is something I had to at least try.
That brings us to the beach. It was now 2pm on a Friday and the water was littered with little black dots of people in wetsuits. I was the only one going into the water in just trunks. This fact made me a little nervous so my heart started racing more. Just the thing you want when someone is telling you “calm down and just pop up on the board”. With a chill running through my spine I said, “Lets get in the water”. Just like that I was stumbling my way over rocks with board in had. I would have felt pretty b.a. about the trunks thing but the farmers tan kinda gave away the fact that I was a complete newb.
With the first burst of whitewash in my face I was ready to go in. But for some reason I kept getting deeper and deeper, and with that the waves kept getting larger and larger. The second that I had to start diving under waves with the board it just felt strangely right. Then I turned around and realized I was only about 500 feet out to sea… ego deflated.
Now came the part where I actually had to get my butt or in this case feet on the board. Rich made it sound simple “just pop up”. And it was… on the beach. As soon as I got into the water I hit the brainfart button. From skateboarding I am used to the side to side movement but getting up and going you have the whole front and back action as well.
Needless to say getting me to surf was not an easy birthing. I never stood up for an extended period of time (more then 2 seconds, have to set the bar high you know), but I did manage to knee a few waves and only swallow roughly 15 gallons of ocean water.
When we headed in I looked down and it looked as if a shark had attacked my leg by the amount of blood gushing from me. I guess I had popped my knee scar open on a rock when I bailed. Once I was cleaned up rich headed out to get some legit surfing in. By this point I saw another bare back in the water so there was a whopping two of us. The water really was not that bad though, infact it was warmer then the air temp. At this point something weird happened. This mom and he kid pull up beside our truck and unload. In my head I was thinking awesome she is going to teach her little 2-3 year old son how to get his feet wet in surfing. When only one full sized board came out of the car I started to question my self. Then she pulled out a mat and some toys. Then came the speech “you stay right here. If someone talks to you don’t talk back”. After then talking to the people in the other car beside us she was in the water. Odd parenting but who am I to judge.
Pretty tired rich and I needed a pick me up so some delicious Mexican food from a little place called la siesta was in order. The plates were huge, and delicious. As I ate what seemed like a full plate of beans I was thinking this is going to suck later. Luckily by the time that kicked in I was taking a nap so it was only my subconscious that was getting ambushed with farts.
Before I knew it I was plunked down watching the rangers dominate the Yankees, and the canucks suck. At the intermission we set off to have a little goodbye dinner at a really cool place near south coast plaza. Before we left I decided to turn back to the Rangers game and saw the worst thing in baseball. A team blowing up. 6 unanswered runs, 3 pitchers, and 0 outs the 8th inning was looking really good for them. At that point I knew it was time to leave.
When all 4 of us pulled up to this place I felt a little out of place in shorts and sandals because it was nice. When I look at the menu I do not know what half the stuff is so I just looked over to rich and said im trusting you. My trust was well rewarded because the Mahi Mahi was amazing. Then to top it all off he ordered from what I hear is this places piece de resistance, the molten lava soufflé. Now rich is a man who loves his food so when he said, “I only want one bite” I knew I was in for a mouthgasm. Now you may ask, “is this similar to a bikegasm”. The answer is no. It is much more enjoyable. I took one bike and it was like a unicorn started dancing in my mouth with fireworks exploding chocolate in the background. With descriptions like that I should become a food critic. All I no is that it was awesome, and a prefect way to wrap up my last full day in California for now.
Now maybe it was the fact I was in vacation mode or simply the fact I was moving slow but noon came up far to quickly. I hear rich yell from downstairs “you ready to go”. I there on my trunks and was ready to hit the road. I could tell rich had done this before simply by the little things he packed, like a jug of hot water to warm our heads up after being in the water.
By the time we got on the road my stomach was in my throat. I am not a great swimmer, the ocean is huge, and I am small a perfect combination for someone to go surfing. Rich took me to a few of the local spots to do an extended surf check. If I am honest I wanted that to go on all day because from the look of the waves it was going to be sketchy. I considered bailing and saying “so how about go karts”, but I knew this is something I had to at least try.
That brings us to the beach. It was now 2pm on a Friday and the water was littered with little black dots of people in wetsuits. I was the only one going into the water in just trunks. This fact made me a little nervous so my heart started racing more. Just the thing you want when someone is telling you “calm down and just pop up on the board”. With a chill running through my spine I said, “Lets get in the water”. Just like that I was stumbling my way over rocks with board in had. I would have felt pretty b.a. about the trunks thing but the farmers tan kinda gave away the fact that I was a complete newb.
With the first burst of whitewash in my face I was ready to go in. But for some reason I kept getting deeper and deeper, and with that the waves kept getting larger and larger. The second that I had to start diving under waves with the board it just felt strangely right. Then I turned around and realized I was only about 500 feet out to sea… ego deflated.
Now came the part where I actually had to get my butt or in this case feet on the board. Rich made it sound simple “just pop up”. And it was… on the beach. As soon as I got into the water I hit the brainfart button. From skateboarding I am used to the side to side movement but getting up and going you have the whole front and back action as well.
Needless to say getting me to surf was not an easy birthing. I never stood up for an extended period of time (more then 2 seconds, have to set the bar high you know), but I did manage to knee a few waves and only swallow roughly 15 gallons of ocean water.
When we headed in I looked down and it looked as if a shark had attacked my leg by the amount of blood gushing from me. I guess I had popped my knee scar open on a rock when I bailed. Once I was cleaned up rich headed out to get some legit surfing in. By this point I saw another bare back in the water so there was a whopping two of us. The water really was not that bad though, infact it was warmer then the air temp. At this point something weird happened. This mom and he kid pull up beside our truck and unload. In my head I was thinking awesome she is going to teach her little 2-3 year old son how to get his feet wet in surfing. When only one full sized board came out of the car I started to question my self. Then she pulled out a mat and some toys. Then came the speech “you stay right here. If someone talks to you don’t talk back”. After then talking to the people in the other car beside us she was in the water. Odd parenting but who am I to judge.
Pretty tired rich and I needed a pick me up so some delicious Mexican food from a little place called la siesta was in order. The plates were huge, and delicious. As I ate what seemed like a full plate of beans I was thinking this is going to suck later. Luckily by the time that kicked in I was taking a nap so it was only my subconscious that was getting ambushed with farts.
Before I knew it I was plunked down watching the rangers dominate the Yankees, and the canucks suck. At the intermission we set off to have a little goodbye dinner at a really cool place near south coast plaza. Before we left I decided to turn back to the Rangers game and saw the worst thing in baseball. A team blowing up. 6 unanswered runs, 3 pitchers, and 0 outs the 8th inning was looking really good for them. At that point I knew it was time to leave.
When all 4 of us pulled up to this place I felt a little out of place in shorts and sandals because it was nice. When I look at the menu I do not know what half the stuff is so I just looked over to rich and said im trusting you. My trust was well rewarded because the Mahi Mahi was amazing. Then to top it all off he ordered from what I hear is this places piece de resistance, the molten lava soufflé. Now rich is a man who loves his food so when he said, “I only want one bite” I knew I was in for a mouthgasm. Now you may ask, “is this similar to a bikegasm”. The answer is no. It is much more enjoyable. I took one bike and it was like a unicorn started dancing in my mouth with fireworks exploding chocolate in the background. With descriptions like that I should become a food critic. All I no is that it was awesome, and a prefect way to wrap up my last full day in California for now.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Surfing. No I Will Take Target Oct 14 2010
Im so used to crazy days that when I went to sleep at midnight I felt obligated to wake up at 7-8 am just to make the most out of the day. So instinct told me to set my alarm and brace myself for the rude awakening that laid ahead.
When I arose eyes weeping from the harsh awakening but in a way I was glad because now I had all day to do… well nothing. And nothing I did. I spent the first 2 hours flipping through the L.A. times and various other papers that rich gets delivered. As a journalist he loves to read rather then watch the news, which I can appreciate.
After getting myself familiar with the world around me and getting some cheerio’s in my stomach I was set for the day. What was on the docket for the day you ask? Surfing. I figure no California trip would be complete without carving a few waves and showing off my wicked farmers tan. This was just a plan though and we all know how plans in my world go. It fell through. Even though the surf was good the overall weather was just not very friendly for catching as rich says “flows”. What are “flows” I can not tell you, all I know is that you want them and when you don’t have them its not a good time.
Instead after getting a quick nap in I went to go have my first target experience pronounced tar-get all French and stuff. Remember we are in Orange County here its high class. I do not know how I would give staters (the local supermarket) that same treatment.
On the way to target we listened to the grateful dead station. Which prompted a series of questions because I knew Rich was a dead head. Did they really make that many albums that they deserve a station? What was a concert like? How did one become a dead head? And so on and so forth. The music itself is not anything special in my opinion but I like it more now knowing a bit of the background behind the band. The fact that they were the number one grossing band as said by rolling stone 14 years running really tells you that it was a culture. Once at target I had to find myself a piece of luggage because there is no way that airline is going to rip me for having more baggage. I found this expandable item and made an impulse buy thinking everything would fit. Well when I stuffed everything back in wouldn’t you know it. I was right. Its tighter then a (if you know me you now then end to this statement) but it works. I did have to trim some things out so unfortunate I can not bring my old ball cream home, or my bungee cords. I can just imagine Anastasia walking into the bathroom and looking in the garbage and seeing this strange assortment of things and wonder “what happened while I was gone”?
That whole packing thing really took it out of me so I took another nap. This time I arouse and decided to go for a walk. Walking is actually an enjoyable thing when you can bend at the knees and are not barefoot on a sidewalk.
Walking aside it was time for dinner and I have to say Rich amazes me. Not only did he cook the best meal I have tasted in a long time he is a wealth of knowledge. Now I wont say this is just rich because it is a statement for people in general they amaze me. For example Babs and I were talking about some old fortune magazines from the 30’s that she was bringing over and talked of bullfighting. Without hesitation rich says that was written by earnest Hemmingway. Low and behold with that magazine in front of me it tells me it was infact written by Hemmingway. These sorts of facts just kept flowing out like a waterfall. The person who is educating me about “flows” is also giving me a history lesson. This is a crazy world.
Now while writing this blog I was chatting with an old friend lilian and she said we would have to meet and talk about the trip when I got back. I said sure whenever you can fit me in. To which she responded “well I assume you are very busy as well”. It was at that point that a switched clicked and I wrote something that just flowed.
I have learned that you can always find time for the people you care about. Things. Meetings. All that just stuff can be redone or changed, but when I was having my worst days on the road in a tent crying on an inflatable matt my friends were there for me. Whether it was a message, a voice, or just something that reminded me of that person I had those memories and people to fall back on. It was at those moments i thanked heaven i spent every second i could with them even if it ment changing some plans.
When I arose eyes weeping from the harsh awakening but in a way I was glad because now I had all day to do… well nothing. And nothing I did. I spent the first 2 hours flipping through the L.A. times and various other papers that rich gets delivered. As a journalist he loves to read rather then watch the news, which I can appreciate.
After getting myself familiar with the world around me and getting some cheerio’s in my stomach I was set for the day. What was on the docket for the day you ask? Surfing. I figure no California trip would be complete without carving a few waves and showing off my wicked farmers tan. This was just a plan though and we all know how plans in my world go. It fell through. Even though the surf was good the overall weather was just not very friendly for catching as rich says “flows”. What are “flows” I can not tell you, all I know is that you want them and when you don’t have them its not a good time.
Instead after getting a quick nap in I went to go have my first target experience pronounced tar-get all French and stuff. Remember we are in Orange County here its high class. I do not know how I would give staters (the local supermarket) that same treatment.
On the way to target we listened to the grateful dead station. Which prompted a series of questions because I knew Rich was a dead head. Did they really make that many albums that they deserve a station? What was a concert like? How did one become a dead head? And so on and so forth. The music itself is not anything special in my opinion but I like it more now knowing a bit of the background behind the band. The fact that they were the number one grossing band as said by rolling stone 14 years running really tells you that it was a culture. Once at target I had to find myself a piece of luggage because there is no way that airline is going to rip me for having more baggage. I found this expandable item and made an impulse buy thinking everything would fit. Well when I stuffed everything back in wouldn’t you know it. I was right. Its tighter then a (if you know me you now then end to this statement) but it works. I did have to trim some things out so unfortunate I can not bring my old ball cream home, or my bungee cords. I can just imagine Anastasia walking into the bathroom and looking in the garbage and seeing this strange assortment of things and wonder “what happened while I was gone”?
That whole packing thing really took it out of me so I took another nap. This time I arouse and decided to go for a walk. Walking is actually an enjoyable thing when you can bend at the knees and are not barefoot on a sidewalk.
Walking aside it was time for dinner and I have to say Rich amazes me. Not only did he cook the best meal I have tasted in a long time he is a wealth of knowledge. Now I wont say this is just rich because it is a statement for people in general they amaze me. For example Babs and I were talking about some old fortune magazines from the 30’s that she was bringing over and talked of bullfighting. Without hesitation rich says that was written by earnest Hemmingway. Low and behold with that magazine in front of me it tells me it was infact written by Hemmingway. These sorts of facts just kept flowing out like a waterfall. The person who is educating me about “flows” is also giving me a history lesson. This is a crazy world.
Now while writing this blog I was chatting with an old friend lilian and she said we would have to meet and talk about the trip when I got back. I said sure whenever you can fit me in. To which she responded “well I assume you are very busy as well”. It was at that point that a switched clicked and I wrote something that just flowed.
I have learned that you can always find time for the people you care about. Things. Meetings. All that just stuff can be redone or changed, but when I was having my worst days on the road in a tent crying on an inflatable matt my friends were there for me. Whether it was a message, a voice, or just something that reminded me of that person I had those memories and people to fall back on. It was at those moments i thanked heaven i spent every second i could with them even if it ment changing some plans.
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