Late Lately

Yesterday afternoon at 1535hrs the sun broke through on the square. 2 Foster puppies were up screaming in a real life nightmare this morning between 0200hrs and 0400hrs. My beautiful beauty sleep ruined and in place I feel like I am dragging around. They are five weeks old or so and miss their momma. Sarci and Swanee are black, very black and they have strong lungs. I had a plan for this morning, a funny dedicated to RESPECT but now I am late and will have to work on that program for Monday.

In about 20 minutes I will be rolling west for the Jar 10.3 miles away towards my first two jobs of this fine foggy Friday. The below tune not toon will be in my head the whole way! Just watch, maybe it will be in your head too!!



MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Dilate

What happens when it rains? Boy, I sure wouldn't wanna have your job today. Well Mister I would not want your job any day. No, it's not really that bad out there. I hate it for my bike and the parts it wears. The auto viper pilots act different in the rain and low visibility of fog. They are still in the same hurry with in the way back of their mind consideration for the change in surface conditions. That transfers to slower reactions at similar speeds. Foggy damp mornings. Constant urban ick watery black grit from the waist down. The bag is starting to smell funny. The atmosphere seems dense, the roll quiet or more absorbed by the low hanging gray molecules. I sought out a death certificate at the ROD yesterday, public record is an amazing discovery. Why would any one's death certificate be entered twice as was the only one I was looking for? Most all are just entered once. There is more. It is all connected, no way to ignore what I am standing next to. How do people do that unnatural and difficult act. Not a question but a statement.

All the decorations are coming out. The Big Balls and colored lights, reindeer joyfully hanging on the poles and huge over sized stars being bolted together by the guy with the light over his head in the Horry County Courthouse 3 years ago. Dude, Pass me the 5/8ths. The stars' points look like daggers above my headed that I have seen 10 straight years in a row.

I cannot contain it anymore, it is over the top. May I be the first to tell you all:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Superstition!!??

Black Cat, broken mirror, spilled salt, carrying an acorn in your pocket for good luck, found a four leaf clover or avoiding stepping on a crack? Well to top it off on Friday the 13th a none believing dog turd found itself under the ladder of a professional light hanger. Frank, Soup's brother left his mark on the back patio of the Cool and Cool but they all disappeared before his handler could remove the brown pile. As the only friend present of Frank and his handler I was designated responsible by Cool and Cool Management for the removal of the non-superstitious poop. Bastard. Thanks a lot(not alot) Frank and Yurgen.

5th Grade Lock-Down

Ms. Arcen is pointing towards the BB&T branch that was held up Thursday afternoon. Upon closer inspection of the Cupola on the bank's roof, the wind appears to be blowing out of the south and west.

Ms. Arcen leads me through the Hallowed Halls of her school en route to her location when the entire student body went to lock-down on Thursday.

Here she is demonstrating where she and her lunch mates sought shelter per the instructions of several staff members when the alarm was sounded. This is the exact table that she spent 8-10 minutes under on Thursday.

My kid, the best one I have ever had. The attempted armed robbery details are sketchy to say the least but on Thursday afternoon at approximately 1300hrs the BB&T across from her school's campus was held up by a gunman seeking free In God We Trust Unit transfer. As the alarm was sounded her school's administrators made the decision for the safety of the students to lock-down the entire campus until the CMPD had the situation across the street secure. Lock-down is something that I had never experienced growing up in the late 70s and awesome 80s but so far through the start of her 5th grade year Ms. Arcen has dealt with it twice. Last year her first LD came while she was in class when a commoner held up a check cashing place in a nearby strip mall. The perpetrator had been seen running towards the school buildings when the alarm was sounded.

Her and I went on a neighborhood father and daughter ride last night which gave me the chance to interview her about the latest set of circumstances around being locked down as a kid in elementary school.

Dad: So Ms. Arcen you were locked down on Thursday, can you tell me what happened?

Kid: Well, we had just got to lunch when the teachers started shutting the blinds and telling us that the school was being locked down. They told us to get under the tables.

Dad: Where were you?

Kid: In the cafeteria, dad.

Dad: What happened next?

Kid: My friends and I got under the table like the rest of the lunch room and kept quiet like we were asked to do.

Dad: Were you scared?

Kid: Not really, I did not feel like anything bad was going to happen.

Dad: Did you know at the time that there was an armed robbery happening at the bank?

Kid: No, they did not tell us that. They only said that there was an emergency and that we needed to be very quiet until they told us the lock-down was over.

Dad: Was any other kid around you scared?

Kid: Maybe one or two but none under my table.

Dad: This is your second lock down in about a year, how did it compare to the first one?

Kid: Well last year I was in Ms. B's classroom upstairs and that one was scary because I saw the helicopter outside not far above the trees making circles for over 10 minutes. And, there were many police officers running around that day.

Dad: Did you see police officers during this latest lock-down?

Kid: Yes, like 12 or maybe more were all around as lock-down ended.

Dad: How long did this LD last?

Kid: Maybe like 10 or 13 minutes.

Dad: I am truly glad that you are okay and in future lock-downs please listen to you teachers and pay attention to what is going on around you.

Kid: Thanks Dad, I will.

This whole lock-down thing is bizarre. Since she was small we have had her in various private learning settings which I am convinced is internally safer than the public system or I would not have her there. I have always felt that she is surrounded by some very intelligent teachers and caring folks. The external forces around those institutions is something that I cannot control, all I have is faith in her intuition, strength and awareness which will be supported by the school's staff and the local authorities that are there to protect the students.

Sunday Urban Cross Ride-South End is Near

Yesterday I rolled out of the house at noon in search of this older colorfully dressed Mongolian lady in a huge black wool top hat. In passing I met her briefly last week and missed the chance to take her picture. I rode from the east around the southern flanks of the Jar and never found her but I did find a group of friends making good use of their time by riding around an urban cyclocross course in the South End not for from the Cool and Cool. The course was interesting with enough steep ups and downs to get the riders on and off their bikes a few times. I only recognized one of the competitors and one of the spectators other than myself.



Before the thing started there was a big air comp and red shirt won. Here comes Zac(I am guessing on the spelling) on lap 1 for the pass,

he made it clean with a whistle.

Keith the former ex messenger in fine form.

Him and purple shirt tie it up a bit but neither hit the floor.

Resplendent in the L'Orange Jaune.

Purple shirt just before his ride ending flat.

Lead rider on descent.

2nd place reaching deep.

Approaching the gap and over.

After leaving his flat tired machine and helmet purple shirt decided to run for it.

A positive effort indeed.

2nd place in fine form.

Text book gap jump.

About to remount.

The short steep is just ahead.

A Mootsless Team Dicky points out the line down the short steep that he wants to ride.
Smooth.

Husky Spoons Dane

We have no furnace but we do have over 5 cord(1 cord stacked=4' x 8' x 4') of wood that I cut, stacked and split earlier this spring and summer. It has been a bit chilly in the house without the gas burner so far this season with a record inside low earlier this week of 49F. There is a possibility that we will be without the unit until December 12 so there is at least one more indoor cold record ahead. In the mean time we will receive the BTUs provided by the efforts that have already warmed me multiple times before.

As it turns out Rocky the better than Great Dane really likes having a fire on chilly nights. This year old Germanic bred dog has never experienced the thick warmth that a wood fire provides. The other night while he was stretched out in front of the bone warming heat source Zoo Zoo the TWIT(Tiny Warrior in Training) walked into the room and assessed the situation. Zoo realized that Rock Star was basically laying directly in front of the fire where she wanted to be. So the witty little husky simply stepped over the larger hound and laid down over his mid section knowing that it would be warm, soft and cozy.
Rocky seemed not to care about the intrusion because they are friends and as a bonus the little white fuzz ball provided him with extra heat insulation. So, the friends spooned and enjoyed a toasty nap.

Sideways Kangaroo

Down in Wilmingtoon Erikachachacha has perfected her sideways kangaroo handstand, she is such a bad ass.