Weekend Update

Nikki tells me that I need to update this thing, so although I secretly think that no one at all reads this, here we go.  Enjoy.

If you're wondering--and there's no reason why you should be--it seems like the dog is doing better.  She's been dealing with something, and it's led her to lick and scratch her rear left paw to the point of bleeding abscess, which led to an infection and some rather serious vet bills.  *sigh*  Between the washing machine catching on fire, replacing the windows in the used-to-be-den/soon-to-be-library, and paying veterinarian bills, this has been a Hell of an expensive month.  But what are you gonna do?  I have it on good authority that we actually NEED a washing machine, and I love my dog.  I just wish she wasn't quite so self-destructive.  It seems like a little skin irritation, aggravated by serious separation anxiety.  So there you have it, but it seems like she's doing a bit better now.

Hmmm...  I see that I never actually posted a Race Report for my last race of the season.  Well, it was a pretty good race.  We started with a rough swim.  We had maybe 20 mph of crosswind, leading to 2-ft swells in the Sound, aggravated by the fact that we had to swim out, then INTO the wind, and then back in.  It was a heck of a tough swim, but swimming is my background, and that favored me.  So we headed out, I quickly got out ahead of the pack, and toughed it out through the swim.  Got out of the water, through transition, and as I headed out on my bike, people were cheering like crazy.  "You're in 5th!" on lady yelled, "Go, go, go!"

5th?  That was awesome!  Ah, a moment of glory.  I put my head down and went.

It was a 10-mile ride on a flat, 4-lap course with wind.  I'm no big fan of wind, but it's easier for me than hills, and as I was coming into T-2, folks were again screaming.  This time: "You're in 12th!"

12th?  At the END of the bike in a highly competitive race with 400 entrants?  WOW!

Of course, the run was, as ever, my downfall.  I still finished about 50th overall and was I think 8th out of about 50 in my age group, so I can't complain.  But alas... I just can't seem to hold that edge when I get it.

*sigh*

Meanwhile, Sellswords is still going strong.  We're in the final battle of the Heroic tier now.  Ginagel is making his Last Stand, and after that will come the big Fiesta.  I wrote that Svirfneblin Homebrew piece specifically for an NPC I'm building for Sellswords, but I only posted it here because the formatting on the D&D official forum is difficult to use.  Anyway, if you're at all interested in D&D, feel free to check it out and give feedback.

*whistles*  *crickets*

So yeah, I've been biking back-and-forth from the train station at 125th Street to my office on West 66th, for maybe 6 weeks now.  It's 4.7-miles one way, about 20 minutes of riding through Harlem and Upper West Side traffic, giving me a total of a little more than 10-miles of riding every day.  Which is awesome.  Often, it's the best part of my day.  I use a folding bike, a Dahon Speed 8.  It's not the world's greatest bike, but it's not bad, and I've been digging it.  Mostly.  Sometimes people suck.  But what are you gonna do?  It's New York.  That shit is gonna happen.
 
Finally, Sally and I watched Hot Tub: Time Machine last night.  Awesome flick.  I highly recommend it for the 30-something set.  Younger folks might miss the appeal.  But, y'know, who cares?  They're too busy texting each other to notice, no?

So there you have it.  Tomorrow is Halloween.  I'll be going as Shaggy.  Sally will be Fred.  Hannah is Velma, and Emma is Daphne.  The dog, of course, is Scooby Doo.  If I get a chance, I'll drop a few pics.

Have a nice weekend.