I've been having issues for the past few months in regards to my fly and the subway. For some reason I've gotten into the bad habit of looking to see if my zipper's up only AFTER I get off of the Subway and am walking to my office. To most people they would probably rate that as one of their more embarrassing moments of their life, for me it's turning into almost a weekly routine of where I notice a slight breeze as I hustle out of the train into the subway. I don't understand why I can't remember to check, it could be b/c I just wear pajamas around my house all morning and then when I put slacks on, it feels just the same to have that opening there (just like the PJ's). It's hard to believe I was having issues like this way back in the summer, and still haven't resolved it yet either.....
On another wierder Subway note, yesterday while I was taking the rushhour train back, I was lucky to stand right next to 2 whitetrizzo's talking about their businesses and how they are successful. It was hilarious, as they were talking soooo loud, that people within about 5-6 feet could hear. These guys were bragging like how stock traders would talk about their hot stocks, but these guys were dealers. I only WISH I had a fake police badge so I could have flashed it to those guys as they were going on and on about how they stash their money, what safes they've been buying to store their money, and how much "product" they had been getting&selling and their profit margins on each. I wanted to say something, but I was afraid they might get off at my stop, which was what they did, so it was (for once) a rare moment where I kept my mouth shut. Heck for all I know they live on the next block...
Ah, where's Charles Bronson when you need him?
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Cajun Power, my favorite hot sauce!
My brother just found, after many years of searching, the best damn hot sauce he and I ever tasted. See I grew up in H-town (Houston, TX) and there was a Cajun store which my mother would buy cajun spices and food, and there was this sauce she bought one time which had a great kick to it, but also had a super yummy taste to it. We began putting it on everything, using it as some people use ketchup, it was great, life seem perfect, and then the bottles dissappeared! No store carried them, we searched and searched but alas, no Cajun Power anywere. Now after a good 10 years of searching, my bro found it again: http://www.cajunpowersauce.com/quality/index.html
Ordering my first cases right now, as I have some catching up to do. The one which we had was the "Original Garlic Cajun Power Sauce." Can't wait for it to spice up my life again.
Ordering my first cases right now, as I have some catching up to do. The one which we had was the "Original Garlic Cajun Power Sauce." Can't wait for it to spice up my life again.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Website of the Week!
I've actually been reading www.sustainablebusiness.com since my college days (last century!).
Some of my bestesses of stockpickin's came from there too. BCON, CPST, ESLR and gasp, APWR, which is now known as GE Solar. APWR used to be the largest solar company in the world, then they went kaput b/c they didn't hedge against the rising silicon demand which the tech industry was sucking away. All you Delawareans better know your damn history and better know that for a while good ol' APWR put us on the total baddass/cutting edge map. Their old corporate headquarters is on 896 heading towards rte. 40. Here's a picture and history on their headquarters: http://www.edcmag.com/CDA/Archives/5e7d4d6efa697010VgnVCM100000f932a8c0____
One thing the article doesn't mention is that the building produces more electricity than it needs. Pretty cool..
Anyways for all you cutting edge enviro's, you should already know sustainablebusiness.com, but for all you budding enviros, take your time and get to know it.
Time for bed! racing season's getting sort of close...
Some of my bestesses of stockpickin's came from there too. BCON, CPST, ESLR and gasp, APWR, which is now known as GE Solar. APWR used to be the largest solar company in the world, then they went kaput b/c they didn't hedge against the rising silicon demand which the tech industry was sucking away. All you Delawareans better know your damn history and better know that for a while good ol' APWR put us on the total baddass/cutting edge map. Their old corporate headquarters is on 896 heading towards rte. 40. Here's a picture and history on their headquarters: http://www.edcmag.com/CDA/Archives/5e7d4d6efa697010VgnVCM100000f932a8c0____
One thing the article doesn't mention is that the building produces more electricity than it needs. Pretty cool..
Anyways for all you cutting edge enviro's, you should already know sustainablebusiness.com, but for all you budding enviros, take your time and get to know it.
Time for bed! racing season's getting sort of close...
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Yo Rocky!
No wonder they decided to start paving my street this week. Looks like Rocky's (Stallone) coming to Sou' Phill again:
http://www.nbc10.com/news/6157731/detail.html?subid=10101521
http://www.nbc10.com/news/6157731/detail.html?subid=10101521
Sunday, January 15, 2006
A Visit to Delaware
Yesterday was uber crappy weather for "safe" riding in the city and so I packed it up and hit the 95 Sou' to do a road ride down in Delaware. I parked at mi padre's house right by the Brandywine River valley and then I rode to Newark via Greenville route. It was great to hit those roads again, it's hard to believe the difference in traffic from Philly to those empty stretches of road.
On Papermill Rd. into Newark I ran into Fitzy and Fort James http://manicmtbr.blogspot.com/ on his new dope FORT machine.
That's one thing about riding in Delaware, I always seem to run into someone I know. It was great catching up with those guys, though I had to turn around after a bit as I didn't want to climb a killer climb for the second time in 1 hr.
So I hit Newark and then rode one of my favorite roads of all time, the good ol' Creek Road through White Clay Creek State park, (sorry Vonck for not stopping and saying hi!, I was stinky by then and didn't want to scare your fine ladies).
I then hit 896 to see Ted Logic, Gwen, Teague and Super Sid. Sadly none of them were there, but I see Ted Logic completed his super badass deck and I wrote on his garage windows to let him know I had been there. At first I just wrote "BC was here" then I realized that sounded stalkerish, and so I wrote to let him and Gwen know that their deck looked fabulous...Ted could you build one for me in Sou' Philly?
It started to rain a bit as I turned back and started riding towards White Clay Creek state park. Still warm though and I was feeling great. While I was climbing one of my favorite roads up out of White Clay park, my lady text'd messaged me and needed an immediate response. I couldn't call her as she was in a class, and so I did the smart thing and kept riding up the hill no handsy while I text'd her to let her know I wouldn't be back in Philly by 4pm. Who would have thought you could multitask on a road bike?
I was still feeling good after 3 hrs and so I decided to start riding up into MD towards Marky-Marc territory. It was then I noticed the dark clouds swirling in the sky, reminiscent of a Ghost Buster's movie. I decided something scary was happening in Marc's neck of the woods and so I high tailed it to Appleton Rd. and did a TT on a 20 mph tailwind on 273 back to Newark. I was flying, but coming up the final hill into Newark, my rear end was feeling squishy and sure enough, my second ride on the brand new set of tyres was getting a flat. I rode on the front wheel for as long as possible, hoping to get to Wooden Wheels, but alas, I had to stop on Delaware Ave. and fix it. It was quick and painless, but still it sucked as I was rolling and I always love that sharp turn off the train tracks and onto DE Ave. I've almost been hit there at least a dozen times and lost the rear wheel a few times too, but have yet to lay it down. It was a bummer not to take that turn at a quick pedal.
I still swung on by WW's to say high and get some water for the return trip to Wilmington. I miss that shop as it is sooo spacious, very unlike the City where bike shops think it's ok to be clusterphuk.
I high-tailed it out of WW's pretty quick as the dark clouds were swirling and the wind turning brutal. It was no fun the drag up Papermill Rd. to Limstone Rd. I even ran the light at Limestone b/c I was feeling cooked and was out of food and was starting to feel a little bonkie.
Of course I come up to the next light and some chick has parked her car on the shoulder and not only will I have to ride in a lane, she's even out of her car with a Digital SLR taking my picture. I was like shit, hope she's not some off duty cop. She yelled and said she's with the "Community" newspaper of Hockessin. She asked where I was riding to and I told her Wilmington via Brackenville/Ashland Nature center, and so sure enough when I rode by there 20 minutes later she was hanging out in the rain and took my picture. It was just too cheesey, but cut out the picture and keep it if any of ya get the Newspaper. I was COOKED when she took the shots and I guarantee I look like crap. I just want to see how bad I look.
I made it back at my dad's house at 4:30, I had left at 11:40 and so I was dead/cooked/fried. I inhailed a protein bar and then just laid down on his living room floor. Of course no one was at his house when I got there and then here comes my dad into his house and I'm lying on his floor half dressed and feeling bonk+pain. Good thing he's seen it before or else he probably would have actually worried about me. The warm shower felt as good as sex for the first time. My body couldn't move, but oh the warmth felt great all over my body. I split, hit the mobbed Trader Joes and then hit 95 back to Philly, then hit the bed by 8:30. The lady wasn't happy I had dissappeared all day, but she got all of me today, so all's well.
Took today off as I was uber cooked. Funny, I missed Marc and Diane's dinner at Le Bus by 24 hrs, as I ate there tonight with the lady. She had the Couscous, I had the Black Bean Enchilada. Both were damn good and went great with whatever the wine was that "Winnie" had recommended. I ordered a bottle of it, as it was way cheaper to order it by the bottle then by the glass. Neither Thea or I drink much and so half the bottle was left when dinner was over. I asked the waitress if she could please retrieve the cork and she said they don't allow people to take bottles out, I was like damn, you should have told me before I ordered the bottle...Anyways, Thea solved the solution and made the bottle dissappear and luckily my friend Anne was having a dinner party up the street and so I hooked a sister up with the half bottle to start her night. That's what friends do...
Good 2 days, one more to go...can't wait for some long miles tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow will be no boring-ass ride through the suburbs like these chaps all seem to salivate for. Riding in DE/PA/MD yesterday reminds me of how great it is to ride over a mile without stopping for a light/stop sign.
ride on,
-BC
On Papermill Rd. into Newark I ran into Fitzy and Fort James http://manicmtbr.blogspot.com/ on his new dope FORT machine.
That's one thing about riding in Delaware, I always seem to run into someone I know. It was great catching up with those guys, though I had to turn around after a bit as I didn't want to climb a killer climb for the second time in 1 hr.
So I hit Newark and then rode one of my favorite roads of all time, the good ol' Creek Road through White Clay Creek State park, (sorry Vonck for not stopping and saying hi!, I was stinky by then and didn't want to scare your fine ladies).
I then hit 896 to see Ted Logic, Gwen, Teague and Super Sid. Sadly none of them were there, but I see Ted Logic completed his super badass deck and I wrote on his garage windows to let him know I had been there. At first I just wrote "BC was here" then I realized that sounded stalkerish, and so I wrote to let him and Gwen know that their deck looked fabulous...Ted could you build one for me in Sou' Philly?
It started to rain a bit as I turned back and started riding towards White Clay Creek state park. Still warm though and I was feeling great. While I was climbing one of my favorite roads up out of White Clay park, my lady text'd messaged me and needed an immediate response. I couldn't call her as she was in a class, and so I did the smart thing and kept riding up the hill no handsy while I text'd her to let her know I wouldn't be back in Philly by 4pm. Who would have thought you could multitask on a road bike?
I was still feeling good after 3 hrs and so I decided to start riding up into MD towards Marky-Marc territory. It was then I noticed the dark clouds swirling in the sky, reminiscent of a Ghost Buster's movie. I decided something scary was happening in Marc's neck of the woods and so I high tailed it to Appleton Rd. and did a TT on a 20 mph tailwind on 273 back to Newark. I was flying, but coming up the final hill into Newark, my rear end was feeling squishy and sure enough, my second ride on the brand new set of tyres was getting a flat. I rode on the front wheel for as long as possible, hoping to get to Wooden Wheels, but alas, I had to stop on Delaware Ave. and fix it. It was quick and painless, but still it sucked as I was rolling and I always love that sharp turn off the train tracks and onto DE Ave. I've almost been hit there at least a dozen times and lost the rear wheel a few times too, but have yet to lay it down. It was a bummer not to take that turn at a quick pedal.
I still swung on by WW's to say high and get some water for the return trip to Wilmington. I miss that shop as it is sooo spacious, very unlike the City where bike shops think it's ok to be clusterphuk.
I high-tailed it out of WW's pretty quick as the dark clouds were swirling and the wind turning brutal. It was no fun the drag up Papermill Rd. to Limstone Rd. I even ran the light at Limestone b/c I was feeling cooked and was out of food and was starting to feel a little bonkie.
Of course I come up to the next light and some chick has parked her car on the shoulder and not only will I have to ride in a lane, she's even out of her car with a Digital SLR taking my picture. I was like shit, hope she's not some off duty cop. She yelled and said she's with the "Community" newspaper of Hockessin. She asked where I was riding to and I told her Wilmington via Brackenville/Ashland Nature center, and so sure enough when I rode by there 20 minutes later she was hanging out in the rain and took my picture. It was just too cheesey, but cut out the picture and keep it if any of ya get the Newspaper. I was COOKED when she took the shots and I guarantee I look like crap. I just want to see how bad I look.
I made it back at my dad's house at 4:30, I had left at 11:40 and so I was dead/cooked/fried. I inhailed a protein bar and then just laid down on his living room floor. Of course no one was at his house when I got there and then here comes my dad into his house and I'm lying on his floor half dressed and feeling bonk+pain. Good thing he's seen it before or else he probably would have actually worried about me. The warm shower felt as good as sex for the first time. My body couldn't move, but oh the warmth felt great all over my body. I split, hit the mobbed Trader Joes and then hit 95 back to Philly, then hit the bed by 8:30. The lady wasn't happy I had dissappeared all day, but she got all of me today, so all's well.
Took today off as I was uber cooked. Funny, I missed Marc and Diane's dinner at Le Bus by 24 hrs, as I ate there tonight with the lady. She had the Couscous, I had the Black Bean Enchilada. Both were damn good and went great with whatever the wine was that "Winnie" had recommended. I ordered a bottle of it, as it was way cheaper to order it by the bottle then by the glass. Neither Thea or I drink much and so half the bottle was left when dinner was over. I asked the waitress if she could please retrieve the cork and she said they don't allow people to take bottles out, I was like damn, you should have told me before I ordered the bottle...Anyways, Thea solved the solution and made the bottle dissappear and luckily my friend Anne was having a dinner party up the street and so I hooked a sister up with the half bottle to start her night. That's what friends do...
Good 2 days, one more to go...can't wait for some long miles tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow will be no boring-ass ride through the suburbs like these chaps all seem to salivate for. Riding in DE/PA/MD yesterday reminds me of how great it is to ride over a mile without stopping for a light/stop sign.
ride on,
-BC
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Fruity 6 is out!
Just downloaded Fruity 6. Seems like another sweet upgrade by the Fruity crew.
www.fruityloops.com
or direct download at:
http://www.tucows.com/preview/209204
Notice one of the US download hubs is in Wilmington, DE. I downloaded the whole file in about 1 minute.
Going to be wet today, though I'm still going to get out, it's still about 30 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year. Just ordered a C'dale R5000 for next year...haven't told the Scott yet that it's not going to be raced this year...hopefully it doesn't get mad at me...
www.fruityloops.com
or direct download at:
http://www.tucows.com/preview/209204
Notice one of the US download hubs is in Wilmington, DE. I downloaded the whole file in about 1 minute.
Going to be wet today, though I'm still going to get out, it's still about 30 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year. Just ordered a C'dale R5000 for next year...haven't told the Scott yet that it's not going to be raced this year...hopefully it doesn't get mad at me...
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Hot Water Heater Specs.
Ahh, I just realized I never finished that post on my heater (thanks Marc for reminding me), that girlfriend knows how to distract me...
A few years ago, my uncle, who runs a hardware store in DE, bought the only tankless hot water heater on the market. He has a big house, but a really small basement, so by taking out his tank he gained more space for his workshop. He loved it, b/c it saved him about $20 a month as he had 4 family members living in his house with him. Also, b/c it never stored water, when the family would go on vacation, he never had to turn it down so it wouldn't heat un-needed water for the week. So when I moved into my new house, I remembered what the home inspector said "Your hot water heater is over 14 years old, they typically last 10-12, so get a new one ASAP." So that's what I did, but I spent a few months researching the heaters. My bro sent me this cool link soon after moving in: http://www.mme.state.va.us/de/hbchap6.html It breaks down all the different hot water heaters you can buy. On the chart it states that On-demand Gas is 70%, mine is actually 80% (fyi, if you buy a water heater that's 80% or higher in efficiency, then you get a $300 tax write off) My GPM (gallons per minute) of hot water can actually vary. It ends up that during winter you flick a switch (kind of like flipping the nitrious switch on Joey T's doped out Civic) so that the cold water it's taking in gets hot enough, but when you do that, you burn way more gas. The number's get complicated, but between the normal setting and the turbo get 1.1-3.7gpm of 140 degree water. The big key though is the temperature of the water coming into the house. Technically my Bosch Aquastar 125B can support 2 hot water sources turned on at the same time (a hot shower and washing machine). It's meant for a smaller house, so if you have a family, or like to wash dishes, laundry and take a hot shower at the same time, you may have some trouble. Retail cost on this puppy is under $600, but I'll be honest, it cost me just under $1K to buy it and have it installed by a professional. I think it's worth it, as it goes with my green lifestyle, plus if I ever have many people live here, then person after person can take an uber hot shower without any tank ever running out of water. Oh yes, also the life of tankless water heaters are about 20 years, so they will easily outlast a normal tank heater.
There is one drawback, though it's not big....When taking my first shower on it, I knew that at a certain low flow rate, the heater would shut off, so once I rinsed off all the soap off my body, I started backing down the pressure (turning the hot water nob closer to off) and soon enough the water was F'ing cold. It's a little bit of a pain if people come to visit and need to take a shower, as I'll have to tell them to keep the pressure up, but it's not a bad drawback as I have a super low flow water head on the shower. I believe the lowest flow rate setting which allows the hot water heater to kick on is 0.5 gpm. Not too high at all.
One interesting thing I've noticed in the past week since I got the heater, was that my basement is now about 10 degrees cooler. It used to be balmy down there, even when my house was in the 50's, it would easily be in the 70's down there. It really blows my mind how inefficient that old hot water heater opperated as it threw off a lot of wasteful heat.
Oh, here's another cool link my bro sent me about energy use in other appliances:http://www.mme.state.va.us/de/hbchap7.html
And if anyone is interested in buying these, they are now available at most hardware stores. Bosch is now one of the big players with their Aquastar brand, but there are 2-3 other brands that make them too.
A few years ago, my uncle, who runs a hardware store in DE, bought the only tankless hot water heater on the market. He has a big house, but a really small basement, so by taking out his tank he gained more space for his workshop. He loved it, b/c it saved him about $20 a month as he had 4 family members living in his house with him. Also, b/c it never stored water, when the family would go on vacation, he never had to turn it down so it wouldn't heat un-needed water for the week. So when I moved into my new house, I remembered what the home inspector said "Your hot water heater is over 14 years old, they typically last 10-12, so get a new one ASAP." So that's what I did, but I spent a few months researching the heaters. My bro sent me this cool link soon after moving in: http://www.mme.state.va.us/de/hbchap6.html It breaks down all the different hot water heaters you can buy. On the chart it states that On-demand Gas is 70%, mine is actually 80% (fyi, if you buy a water heater that's 80% or higher in efficiency, then you get a $300 tax write off) My GPM (gallons per minute) of hot water can actually vary. It ends up that during winter you flick a switch (kind of like flipping the nitrious switch on Joey T's doped out Civic) so that the cold water it's taking in gets hot enough, but when you do that, you burn way more gas. The number's get complicated, but between the normal setting and the turbo get 1.1-3.7gpm of 140 degree water. The big key though is the temperature of the water coming into the house. Technically my Bosch Aquastar 125B can support 2 hot water sources turned on at the same time (a hot shower and washing machine). It's meant for a smaller house, so if you have a family, or like to wash dishes, laundry and take a hot shower at the same time, you may have some trouble. Retail cost on this puppy is under $600, but I'll be honest, it cost me just under $1K to buy it and have it installed by a professional. I think it's worth it, as it goes with my green lifestyle, plus if I ever have many people live here, then person after person can take an uber hot shower without any tank ever running out of water. Oh yes, also the life of tankless water heaters are about 20 years, so they will easily outlast a normal tank heater.
There is one drawback, though it's not big....When taking my first shower on it, I knew that at a certain low flow rate, the heater would shut off, so once I rinsed off all the soap off my body, I started backing down the pressure (turning the hot water nob closer to off) and soon enough the water was F'ing cold. It's a little bit of a pain if people come to visit and need to take a shower, as I'll have to tell them to keep the pressure up, but it's not a bad drawback as I have a super low flow water head on the shower. I believe the lowest flow rate setting which allows the hot water heater to kick on is 0.5 gpm. Not too high at all.
One interesting thing I've noticed in the past week since I got the heater, was that my basement is now about 10 degrees cooler. It used to be balmy down there, even when my house was in the 50's, it would easily be in the 70's down there. It really blows my mind how inefficient that old hot water heater opperated as it threw off a lot of wasteful heat.
Oh, here's another cool link my bro sent me about energy use in other appliances:http://www.mme.state.va.us/de/hbchap7.html
And if anyone is interested in buying these, they are now available at most hardware stores. Bosch is now one of the big players with their Aquastar brand, but there are 2-3 other brands that make them too.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Look at this bling!
This is my dope new hot water heater. I know you think I've inhailed way too much Philly pollution, but before you write me off as BC has lost it. You have to understand that this is the highest tech of high-tech water heaters. It's On-Demand baby aka Tankless. No wasted heating of water, so it's an Environmentally friendly hot water heater. Plus look at that space! My old tank used to take up an equal space as the Dryer next to it.
Friday, January 06, 2006
I've been thinking of doing this in Philly for a long time.
From CNN.com this morning:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/01/05/toronto.booze.reut/index.html
Sorry I've dissappeared for a long while. Been busy with the holidays, cycling, work, the lady and working on my house.
I picked up a new cell phone, but alas even my brain can't remember everyone's number so don't become offended if you don't hear from me! Call me instead so I have your number again!
Danke,
-bc
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/01/05/toronto.booze.reut/index.html
Sorry I've dissappeared for a long while. Been busy with the holidays, cycling, work, the lady and working on my house.
I picked up a new cell phone, but alas even my brain can't remember everyone's number so don't become offended if you don't hear from me! Call me instead so I have your number again!
Danke,
-bc
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Happy New Year!....Have you seen my cell phone?
Sorry all you pimp daddies and hot mamas, but I've lost my cell phone as of 1am this morning. I left it in a cab and realized it about a minute too late. So please don't stress if you don't hear from me as you should know that I'm thinking of you, I just can't talk to you. I'll email everyone once I get this resolved.
Oh yes, and thanks for your support during this past year.
Hope 2006 is the best yet for us!
-bc
Oh yes, and thanks for your support during this past year.
Hope 2006 is the best yet for us!
-bc
Friday, December 23, 2005
WWJD?
Check the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10580595/
Went to the office Christmas party out in Old City at the Panorama last night with my fine lady friend Thea. The place was already jumping by the time we got there at 7:30. It's amazing how the open bar and good food packed the people in, plus no one cared about being fasionably late because that's less time for them to drink. I was happy to see that about 1/2 of the advisors brought their wives, but even then there was about 1 advisor every 10 minutes hitting on Thea. It was the funniest thing as she was getting a kick out of it, one guy even told her that his wife wouldn't mind if they swapped that night. I was like, oh shit, hope Thea can laugh that one off! Luckily she did, and was cracking up about it afterwards. The guys whom I work with are nuts and they sure didn't let me down last night. I even grabbed a random digi camera sitting on a dinner table to capture some of the wackiness of the evening. Luckily the chick who owned the camera never noticed it was her sweet Cannon SLR which was flashing all over the place.
Thea and I left about 10 pm as once the open bar shut down, it was like "lights out" and people immediately started shuffling out to the other Old City bars. I was super beat, as so was she as she actually got in a sweet ride in the "warm" weather out there yesterday.
I'm so looking forward to the Christmas Eve ride Saturday behind the Art Museum. It's looking like the weather is going to be warm and that should make it a good group. Plus I really need to ride with all the chocolate I've had the last 2 weeks. There's also another road ride the day after X-mas at 9am behind the Art Museum. May go to that or do a solo out to Valley Forge. VF is absolutely beautiful right now, really serene out there..
Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukka, and Delightful Kwanzaa!
=bc
Went to the office Christmas party out in Old City at the Panorama last night with my fine lady friend Thea. The place was already jumping by the time we got there at 7:30. It's amazing how the open bar and good food packed the people in, plus no one cared about being fasionably late because that's less time for them to drink. I was happy to see that about 1/2 of the advisors brought their wives, but even then there was about 1 advisor every 10 minutes hitting on Thea. It was the funniest thing as she was getting a kick out of it, one guy even told her that his wife wouldn't mind if they swapped that night. I was like, oh shit, hope Thea can laugh that one off! Luckily she did, and was cracking up about it afterwards. The guys whom I work with are nuts and they sure didn't let me down last night. I even grabbed a random digi camera sitting on a dinner table to capture some of the wackiness of the evening. Luckily the chick who owned the camera never noticed it was her sweet Cannon SLR which was flashing all over the place.
Thea and I left about 10 pm as once the open bar shut down, it was like "lights out" and people immediately started shuffling out to the other Old City bars. I was super beat, as so was she as she actually got in a sweet ride in the "warm" weather out there yesterday.
I'm so looking forward to the Christmas Eve ride Saturday behind the Art Museum. It's looking like the weather is going to be warm and that should make it a good group. Plus I really need to ride with all the chocolate I've had the last 2 weeks. There's also another road ride the day after X-mas at 9am behind the Art Museum. May go to that or do a solo out to Valley Forge. VF is absolutely beautiful right now, really serene out there..
Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukka, and Delightful Kwanzaa!
=bc
Monday, December 19, 2005
Riding in the Winter Wonderland
So this weekend it was warm for the first time in two weeks, plus after all the wintry weather we've had, I bet I wasn't the only one out riding and enjoying the bike again. It's amazing how just a few days makes us feel like we haven't been on the bike in ages...
I crashed in Center City on Friday night and ended up not getting back to my house in time for the bike ride for the masses behind the Museum at 9am. I'm happy I missed it as I ended up doing a solo out to VF. While there I passed a dude looking totally screwed on the side of the road. I immediately knew something was up and turned around. It ends up the dude was riding his brand new bike and while shifting going up the hill I was going down, he threw his chain between the frame and the small ring on his crank. He was like "dude, I hope you have a chain braker," I asked him if the chain was Sram or Shimano. He said Shimano. I look and it has a big "S" on it, which means it's a SRAM, aka Sach's Powerchain. I had a quick laugh and told him watch this, and within a minute the chain was fixed and the dude was ready to roll. I love PowerChains, I love em, I love em, I love em. I've never ridden a bad one and on cold days like Saturday they pay off bigtime for something like happened to this guy.
Anyways, it was a perfect stop as I ended up resting for just enough that I was able to hammer for a good long bit afterwards, though I pushed myself into super gimp mode and ended up overworking my left hamstring which meant no real riding on Sunday. I guess I shouldn't have tried doing the split while at Yoga Friday night....
Saturday night was cool. Thea and I walked around downtown taking in the sights before meeting some of her friends at Devil's Alley on Chestnut St. I should have had my camera, as Rittenhouse Square looked sweet from the colored globes which had been hung throughout the park. One thing which was really annoying was that on every street corner was someone asking for money. It was depressing, but got me more mad than anything, as there's a guy who I've seen about a dozen times and he changes his sign daily and always says something really sad. Like my mom just died of breast cancer, and I need money to fly back to California, or I just turned 21 and I don't have anything. The problem is, he changes his age every few days, plus he must have a lot of mothers and fathers as he lost a lot of them by cancer the past few months. I should feel bad for him, but I don't. Heck, I wish I had my birthday at least twice a week and a few dozen mothers and fathers too look out for me. I just wouldn't want to live on the street.
I crashed in Center City on Friday night and ended up not getting back to my house in time for the bike ride for the masses behind the Museum at 9am. I'm happy I missed it as I ended up doing a solo out to VF. While there I passed a dude looking totally screwed on the side of the road. I immediately knew something was up and turned around. It ends up the dude was riding his brand new bike and while shifting going up the hill I was going down, he threw his chain between the frame and the small ring on his crank. He was like "dude, I hope you have a chain braker," I asked him if the chain was Sram or Shimano. He said Shimano. I look and it has a big "S" on it, which means it's a SRAM, aka Sach's Powerchain. I had a quick laugh and told him watch this, and within a minute the chain was fixed and the dude was ready to roll. I love PowerChains, I love em, I love em, I love em. I've never ridden a bad one and on cold days like Saturday they pay off bigtime for something like happened to this guy.
Anyways, it was a perfect stop as I ended up resting for just enough that I was able to hammer for a good long bit afterwards, though I pushed myself into super gimp mode and ended up overworking my left hamstring which meant no real riding on Sunday. I guess I shouldn't have tried doing the split while at Yoga Friday night....
Saturday night was cool. Thea and I walked around downtown taking in the sights before meeting some of her friends at Devil's Alley on Chestnut St. I should have had my camera, as Rittenhouse Square looked sweet from the colored globes which had been hung throughout the park. One thing which was really annoying was that on every street corner was someone asking for money. It was depressing, but got me more mad than anything, as there's a guy who I've seen about a dozen times and he changes his sign daily and always says something really sad. Like my mom just died of breast cancer, and I need money to fly back to California, or I just turned 21 and I don't have anything. The problem is, he changes his age every few days, plus he must have a lot of mothers and fathers as he lost a lot of them by cancer the past few months. I should feel bad for him, but I don't. Heck, I wish I had my birthday at least twice a week and a few dozen mothers and fathers too look out for me. I just wouldn't want to live on the street.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
That's my #igga Marc
Marc, pulling a BC and stirring up trouble aka debate. Love it dude:
http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/9287.0.html
http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/9287.0.html
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Velonews readings
Marc, thanks for making sure people realized the big mistake Nats made by having Katie stage last. Nothing like being miffed at the start line.
Next to MV's read on Velonews today, I see a fine interview with LA on velonews. It's broken into 2 sections:
http://velonews.com/news/fea/9255.0.html and
http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/9256.0.html
Good reads.
Next to MV's read on Velonews today, I see a fine interview with LA on velonews. It's broken into 2 sections:
http://velonews.com/news/fea/9255.0.html and
http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/9256.0.html
Good reads.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Warm and fuzzy inside
Ahhh, I just read FatMarc's breakdown of his race and overall experience at the National's. I loved it, every single picture spoke of the epic weather conditions and showed just how brutal nationals were this year. I really hope no one lost fingers or toes from the race as I know some people on Friday must have become hypothermic.
Read his stories and see the pics at www.fatmarc.com.
I had a sweet weekend this past one. It all began after work on Friday when I hit Yoga with Thea. The Yoga place is normally crowded on Fridays and me with my wingspan can be a little dangerous as I get into all of it and forget where I am. So Friday I finally let loose and really did the full motions without worrying I'd poke some chick's eye out. I needed that as work was F'ing crazy b/c everyone must have been waiting to call in on the first snow day for some reason. So I crashed at Thea's fine place Friday night (who wouldn't take the invitation to stay in a nice warm place when the "weather outside was frightful") and woke up feeling good as the views of the skyline from her 19th floor apartment was absolutely beautiful at 7am. Plus she had made tons of different cookies the day before and so I just had tons of healthy cookies for breakfast. You can't beat that! Came home and worked on the house for a good bit.
In the afternoon I hit the trainer and my crazy neighbor nextdoor knocked on my door and said "Yo bry why don't you borrow my shovel and shovel your walk." So I look left and all the sidewalk was clear and I look right and the sidewalk was clear, but my 10 feet of sidewalk was a glacier. Damn, I'm the only person not to have cleaned my walk, I didn't even realize that. I told crazy Tom I would in about an hour after I was done riding my bike, I even pointed to my bike set up so he knew I wasn't messing with him. He said, that's cool and walked away.
About 10 minutes later I heard some shoveling, so I hopped off the trainer again and Tom was going at my glacier. Damn again I thought, what's he doing, so I opened the door and asked if he liked chocolate chip, raisin, oatmeal cookies. Of course he loved them so I grabbed the big bag off cookies which Thea had sent me home with and I told Tom to grab a few. He grabbed the whole bag and immediatly said how much he and his daughter would enjoy eating them and walked to his house and took the WHOLE big bag of them. Awh man, I was miffed, but then I realized Tom was crazy, and he was shoveling my snow, so I didn't say a thing other than if he couldn't eat them all, to give the rest back to me.
So I end up riding the trainer for a world record breaking 1 hour today, even threw it in the big ring, small cog a few times. I actually felt good on it, but heck, that's what happens when you go from riding 12+ hours a week to 2 hours a week.
I then cleaned up and headed down to Newark, DE to catch up with some friends at Mr. Vonck's Christmas party. Mr. Vonck, who I'm now going to call, Mr. Ratio, is a cool doood working on a kick-ass degree at UD. I always enjoy catching up with him as he's working towards a degree, which back in '99 I was planning to attain, one in Urban Affairs/Sustainable Development. Not only is he attaing a sweet education, he's also living one of the best bachelor lives I've ever seen. He lives with 2 fine young ladies (the beginning of me calling him Mr. Ratio), in the finest bachelor pad around, plus he always has at least a few ladies on him at anytime, including a record 6 Saturday night!! 6:1, that's a helluva ratio!
Anyways, as usual I caught up with some friends whom I hadn't seen in a very long time, Charity, Becca and Mark, whom I hadn't seen in a very long time. See back in the day I was in Americorps and so were Becca and Charity, and the Americorps people hung out with each other all of the time as we were all poor and what do poor people do, but hang out with each other and so that's what we did and had a ton of fun doing it.
Mr. Ratio had tons of yummy food and fine drinks, and like any smart person, instead of going out and buying ice, he just went outside, cut up some ice chunks and then threw them in his cooler. I have to admit that after starting the day eating cookies, I ended the day doing the same. His buddy made these cookie-Brownie-cookie yum-downs which I consumed in the highest of quantities. One buddy's girlfriend sat down while I was talking to her man and I said, those cookies rock! She was like "there's only 2 left" and I was like "oh I wonder why?" Yes, I'll admit I ate 1/2 of them, but heck, I left all the other fine food for everyone else! Thanks KV!
I had a fine time, but was getting tired, and so sometime after 12, myself and my buddy C.Vann decided to roll, Chris wanted to catch up with his Harem of women at a bar and so we went there and hung out for a while. He really had a lot to drink as since I was driving, he was letting it all hang out. He was a mess, but a funny mess. Even grabbing full drinks at the bar which weren't his and guzzling them down. It was funny as he didn't have a clue they weren't his drink. I even suggested as such, but he looked at me like I was the crazy one!!!!
Then when I drove him back to the old house (I lived there at TedLogik's house for 4 years) he walked to the front door and tried to use his car remote to unlock the front door. I totally busted out laughing as I could hear his car keep on unlocking, but for some reason the house door wasn't unlocking. I was like, CV, I think you actually have to use a key for the door. Of course it took about 3 keys to finally find the right one, even though the house key is dinstinctively different than all of the others. It was too funny.
The next day I woke up after just 5 hours of sleep, but I felt good. It's amazing how quiet it is in suburbia as compared to the Urban living! I really felt calm as it was beautiful waking up and actually seeing trees and wildlife running outside in the snow. I ended up hanging out for a few hours as I had to wait until 10 am to pick up my new Tankless Hot Water Heater at the Fairfax True Value Hardware Store. This thing is the bomb and is so energy efficient, I'll even get a $300 tax rebeat. Also I can take steamy hot baths and not feel guilty now.
Then I swung by my dad's house and they were just leaving to pick up some Christmas trees and so I joined them and picked up my first tree ever! It's such a sweet tree, shorter than me, but perfect for my house. Then I came back to their house to catch up with everyone. I was so proud when one of my sister's showed me her power point presentation on the deforestation of the Amazon rain forest. I have a degree in Ecology and so as I watched her presentation, I was looking for certain bullet points and sure enough she hit them all and even through in some stuff I hadn't even known. I was so impressed. It's amazing what 15 year olds can do now!
Came back to Philly for the last 2 hours of daylight and had a totally awesome jog. Philly is definitely a different town with snow in it. It felt like I was in Europe, rather than America.
Good morning everyone. Hope you have a fine day!
-BC
Read his stories and see the pics at www.fatmarc.com.
I had a sweet weekend this past one. It all began after work on Friday when I hit Yoga with Thea. The Yoga place is normally crowded on Fridays and me with my wingspan can be a little dangerous as I get into all of it and forget where I am. So Friday I finally let loose and really did the full motions without worrying I'd poke some chick's eye out. I needed that as work was F'ing crazy b/c everyone must have been waiting to call in on the first snow day for some reason. So I crashed at Thea's fine place Friday night (who wouldn't take the invitation to stay in a nice warm place when the "weather outside was frightful") and woke up feeling good as the views of the skyline from her 19th floor apartment was absolutely beautiful at 7am. Plus she had made tons of different cookies the day before and so I just had tons of healthy cookies for breakfast. You can't beat that! Came home and worked on the house for a good bit.
In the afternoon I hit the trainer and my crazy neighbor nextdoor knocked on my door and said "Yo bry why don't you borrow my shovel and shovel your walk." So I look left and all the sidewalk was clear and I look right and the sidewalk was clear, but my 10 feet of sidewalk was a glacier. Damn, I'm the only person not to have cleaned my walk, I didn't even realize that. I told crazy Tom I would in about an hour after I was done riding my bike, I even pointed to my bike set up so he knew I wasn't messing with him. He said, that's cool and walked away.
About 10 minutes later I heard some shoveling, so I hopped off the trainer again and Tom was going at my glacier. Damn again I thought, what's he doing, so I opened the door and asked if he liked chocolate chip, raisin, oatmeal cookies. Of course he loved them so I grabbed the big bag off cookies which Thea had sent me home with and I told Tom to grab a few. He grabbed the whole bag and immediatly said how much he and his daughter would enjoy eating them and walked to his house and took the WHOLE big bag of them. Awh man, I was miffed, but then I realized Tom was crazy, and he was shoveling my snow, so I didn't say a thing other than if he couldn't eat them all, to give the rest back to me.
So I end up riding the trainer for a world record breaking 1 hour today, even threw it in the big ring, small cog a few times. I actually felt good on it, but heck, that's what happens when you go from riding 12+ hours a week to 2 hours a week.
I then cleaned up and headed down to Newark, DE to catch up with some friends at Mr. Vonck's Christmas party. Mr. Vonck, who I'm now going to call, Mr. Ratio, is a cool doood working on a kick-ass degree at UD. I always enjoy catching up with him as he's working towards a degree, which back in '99 I was planning to attain, one in Urban Affairs/Sustainable Development. Not only is he attaing a sweet education, he's also living one of the best bachelor lives I've ever seen. He lives with 2 fine young ladies (the beginning of me calling him Mr. Ratio), in the finest bachelor pad around, plus he always has at least a few ladies on him at anytime, including a record 6 Saturday night!! 6:1, that's a helluva ratio!
Anyways, as usual I caught up with some friends whom I hadn't seen in a very long time, Charity, Becca and Mark, whom I hadn't seen in a very long time. See back in the day I was in Americorps and so were Becca and Charity, and the Americorps people hung out with each other all of the time as we were all poor and what do poor people do, but hang out with each other and so that's what we did and had a ton of fun doing it.
Mr. Ratio had tons of yummy food and fine drinks, and like any smart person, instead of going out and buying ice, he just went outside, cut up some ice chunks and then threw them in his cooler. I have to admit that after starting the day eating cookies, I ended the day doing the same. His buddy made these cookie-Brownie-cookie yum-downs which I consumed in the highest of quantities. One buddy's girlfriend sat down while I was talking to her man and I said, those cookies rock! She was like "there's only 2 left" and I was like "oh I wonder why?" Yes, I'll admit I ate 1/2 of them, but heck, I left all the other fine food for everyone else! Thanks KV!
I had a fine time, but was getting tired, and so sometime after 12, myself and my buddy C.Vann decided to roll, Chris wanted to catch up with his Harem of women at a bar and so we went there and hung out for a while. He really had a lot to drink as since I was driving, he was letting it all hang out. He was a mess, but a funny mess. Even grabbing full drinks at the bar which weren't his and guzzling them down. It was funny as he didn't have a clue they weren't his drink. I even suggested as such, but he looked at me like I was the crazy one!!!!
Then when I drove him back to the old house (I lived there at TedLogik's house for 4 years) he walked to the front door and tried to use his car remote to unlock the front door. I totally busted out laughing as I could hear his car keep on unlocking, but for some reason the house door wasn't unlocking. I was like, CV, I think you actually have to use a key for the door. Of course it took about 3 keys to finally find the right one, even though the house key is dinstinctively different than all of the others. It was too funny.
The next day I woke up after just 5 hours of sleep, but I felt good. It's amazing how quiet it is in suburbia as compared to the Urban living! I really felt calm as it was beautiful waking up and actually seeing trees and wildlife running outside in the snow. I ended up hanging out for a few hours as I had to wait until 10 am to pick up my new Tankless Hot Water Heater at the Fairfax True Value Hardware Store. This thing is the bomb and is so energy efficient, I'll even get a $300 tax rebeat. Also I can take steamy hot baths and not feel guilty now.
Then I swung by my dad's house and they were just leaving to pick up some Christmas trees and so I joined them and picked up my first tree ever! It's such a sweet tree, shorter than me, but perfect for my house. Then I came back to their house to catch up with everyone. I was so proud when one of my sister's showed me her power point presentation on the deforestation of the Amazon rain forest. I have a degree in Ecology and so as I watched her presentation, I was looking for certain bullet points and sure enough she hit them all and even through in some stuff I hadn't even known. I was so impressed. It's amazing what 15 year olds can do now!
Came back to Philly for the last 2 hours of daylight and had a totally awesome jog. Philly is definitely a different town with snow in it. It felt like I was in Europe, rather than America.
Good morning everyone. Hope you have a fine day!
-BC
Sunday, December 11, 2005
KC wins Nat's Again!
Congrats to Katie Compton who won the title of "baddass American Woman cyclocross racer" again!!! Though before her win today I was pumped to see Dan "the Man" Wilson finish up in the Men's Elite and then Mr. Leech (aka Dieter) finish a "block rockin' beats" 14th. Leech, hopefully your hoochie mama was there to take some snappy pictures like she always does of you. The winter background was pretty badass looking.
The Nat's this year was definitely another strong showing for the Mid-Atlantic homies and home girls. I just wish I was 1/2 as fast as these people.
The Nat's this year was definitely another strong showing for the Mid-Atlantic homies and home girls. I just wish I was 1/2 as fast as these people.
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Congrats to my bicycling homies at Nats
The pink helmet spot man, 24 outta 100 or so at Nats in the 35-39
24 Marc Vettori (Spot Brand Secret Henry's Team) 7.00
My teamate Weave getting 12th:
12 Ransom Weaver (Guys Racing) 4.02
Mihillis Gorillis in the 40-45:
14 Richard Mihillis (Henry's Bikes) 4.38
Brutal conditions yesterday, congrats to those who even lined up at the start line and to everyone who even finished. I bet a few people had hypothermia after the race...
Check http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross/2005/dec05/UScrossnats05/?id=stages
for updates on Cross (dressing) National Championship(s)
24 Marc Vettori (Spot Brand Secret Henry's Team) 7.00
My teamate Weave getting 12th:
12 Ransom Weaver (Guys Racing) 4.02
Mihillis Gorillis in the 40-45:
14 Richard Mihillis (Henry's Bikes) 4.38
Brutal conditions yesterday, congrats to those who even lined up at the start line and to everyone who even finished. I bet a few people had hypothermia after the race...
Check http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross/2005/dec05/UScrossnats05/?id=stages
for updates on Cross (dressing) National Championship(s)
Friday, December 09, 2005
Snowing in SouPhil
To the Right of my house.
Good thing there's a reliable subway or I wouldn't be going to work. I figure a lot of you probably aren't heading in today, I probably don't have to as everyone in my office has kids and with school being closed our office is most likely shut down. I can't wait to work 8 hours all alone at my office. I would probably get the equivalent of 3 days of work done in 1 day...plus there will be lower liquidity (volume) in the market today which can make trading a lot more fun.
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