I ran into someone today that I’ve worked with for seven years. I believe I’ve known this person for a decade or so. I took off my mask, because there was no one else around. We chatted the usual small talk for a moment. This individual says to me, “Is there something different? Did you do something to your face?”
Here I’m expecting a mask joke, and so I’m quickly trying to think of whether I have a funny reply, or if I just let the other person’s joke make all of the magic.
“Didn’t you have a mustache?”
I have never, in my life, worn a mustache; clearly I’m making an impression.
That wasn’t the day’s highlight, though. Nor was the story of the missing ladder. The best part was a bit later.
We went for a bike ride this evening. I made a mental note to take a photo. On our last two rides we’ve just been pedaling and chatting, a delightful change of pace that has caused me to forget all of my mental notes. She’s been recovering from a sinus infection brought on, I’m sure, by a big dose of Terre Haute Pond Water. She won her age group in a triathlon over there the weekend-before-last and has been suffering through it ever since. Finally, she’s getting a bit better though.
Which means the next time we take this photo I’ll be much more winded, for sure.
I looked down at my bike computer right at the end of the ride, when I was turning off the tracking ups and lining up the jump from the road to the sidewalk. There’s a brief moment where I can make a nice S-shape, right to left on the road, up onto the sidewalk, and then splitting the middle of two overhanging branches. Don’t forget to duck! Then, straighten up just in turn to coast into the right-hander for the path that takes me to the back of the house.
Because I was thinking of that series of motions, I missed the obvious thing. If what I saw on the computer had registered, I would have ridden another mile or so around the neighborhood.
As it is, when I added today’s mileage to my spreadsheet — I have a three-page spreadsheet with all of my cycling mileage data on it, what about it? — I am just under a mile away from moving 2023 into the fifth slot on my all time list. Top five in May is, for me, is a torrid pace. (Also, this year makes the top three by next week.)
Also, I took five seconds off my best time on the last hill of the day, the only part of our casual little route I worked at. I set that segment up on Strava. I PRed it today. If I can perfect the conditions I might be able to find one or two more seconds on the segment. But, as it stands, I am now, by four seconds, the fastest person to ever go up the thing. It is exceedingly rare for me to have a KOM, even on a small incline like that one, because I am not a climber.
And while I hold the KOM, The Yankee has QOM honors. We are the fastest two people on this little hill that is on practically no one’s radar.
It is time, once again, for the site’s most popular weekly feature, the regular check-in with the kitties.
Phoebe hasn’t done her super cat impression in a while. She sits next to you, rolls over for belly rubs and stretches her front legs out farther than you’d think musculature should allow.
Eventually, she pushes off with her back legs and executes a perfect roll to leave the chair.
Here she is, later, telling me I’ve done enough on the computer for one day.
She was not wrong about that.
For his part, Poseidon was rather stunned by … something.
He’s lately found a bag in the bike room he likes to sit in.
After this, though I couldn’t get a photo of it, he found a way to burrow under some of the loose things in the bag. He can hide in there. Like they need another place to completely disappear.
So the cats are doing great, thanks for asking. And so are we. Hope your week is off to a great start!
