I'm not complaining. It's 40 degrees, and I'm about to call it a day and go watch ND play in a bowl game with the last of my beery holiday leftovers. Now that's how you wrap up a year.
A few days on the train and I'm going fucking insane. But it's finally the holidays and I can drink drink drink. Yahoo!
At least the dogs had fun. They picked up some great begging skills from each other.
Yeah, it's zip-tie heavy and not perfectly installed by any stretch but it should do the job. 
Turns out I was missing the screws to mount the front fender where there were actual eyelets, and no eyelets for the back so they just got tied on too. As long as the wheels spin I don't care. Good test ride today so we'll see just how f-ed up the riding position actually is tomorrow.
And that's a lot of paper.
The dog wasn't even that interested.
And yet, the fenders were still jammed in there enough to be bent out of true.
Whatever, they were cheap and now I have a huge box to wrap a tiny christmas gift in. Good times.
That bike is heavy as shit and might have been a little steadier than the carbon trek. In any event, Lincoln wasn't bad this morning despite having to fight huge wind gusts to stay in the right area. By the time I hit a red at State and Elm I figured that was close enough and hopped off to walk the last block. Good enough.
That is fucking gross, even though eventually it looks like this.
And the dog always enjoys her thanksgiving, especially when she ends up cleaning the plate of who-ever is paying the least attention.
I think that's strawberry topping from a cheesecake, although it could be cranberry sauce too. Ah, the holidays.
ETA: and 10 hours later I've called it a day and I'm waiting for a train freezing my ass off. Christ I need to go to bed.
So I'm surrounded by the same asshats that piss me off when I'm commuting, only I'm in the exact same boat. It's a blast.
Yup, that's $22/a day worth of parking right there. 
The summer started with me determined to get the bike into ride-able shape for this winter. The chain and the brake weren't too hard, but the wheels were a challenge. Ultimately it would be cheaper to get a new set versus having a shop rebuild them. But in the research into affordable options, I saw a $99 fixed gear at a big box. Namely, Walmart.
Notice on the top of the box:
What a useful warning. I wonder what prompted them to put that on the box versus other warnings.
Anyway, not a terrible packing job. They did offer to put the thing together for me at the store, but I figured at this point I had more than enough experience dealing with shitty bikes to handle it. So far so good, but there's plenty of little detail work I need to get to before it'll be ready to actually ride.
How the fuck is that supposed to work?
At least there's still some time before I have to have it ready to ride. It was in the 50's this morning, and even with some rain coming the Trek can handle that. Here's to a nicer fall.
The ikea has been through a lot. 6 moves, first cohabitation, marriage, the dog, all have left their mark on a bed and mattress that cost less than the king-size mattress we bought to replace it. I still remember how happy I was to put it together and spend my first solo night in the biggest bed of all time. Out of respect I decided to wait until this morning to take it apart and spend one more night in it. 
So much for letting the roomba take care of the floor under the bed. That's only 4 months worth of dust. Not even close to how gross it was under there when we moved but still not great.
Throw a cheap set of sheets on that bad boy and the old comforter and we're ready to go. Wow that really is big enough to merit a new king-size comforter. Oh boy, another weekend spent at home stores. Better rest up.
Evidently I've really been slacking as a responsible bike commuter.
Football provided a decent distraction for some of the day yesterday, but after having to self-medicate with rye after the dismal ND game I was about done with sports for a while. But the rye was good so more of that will likely happen this week.
Shit but it is fucking DARK between fullerton and diversy on the path these days. There were a surprising number of people still out too. 
It was a great day to leave early though: in the 70's at 1 PM with almost no headwind to fight. God I wish it was still June. 
And yes, that is a line of idiots waiting to get into the store when the doors actually open. I cannot wait for this fucking week to be over.
Everything was forgotten once we made it there though. The next time I feel the urge to go to a beach this is where I'm heading. 
It wouldn't be a trip to the dunes if we didn't climb them too. Even the dog was panting by the time we made it to the top, but that's more b/c she was freaking nearly the entire time we were there. 
So she was plenty tired for the ride home. 
A trip like that fascinates me these days. When I was a kid I didn't like taking trips like that. My parents never ended up anywhere I thought was worth the time in the car. It could have been just growing up in the middle of nowhere, it could have been my parents were idiots. But now that I'm in charge it's a lot more fun, even though it's nearly impossible to feel like you're doing anything remotely spontaneous when you can look up anything on a phone and instantly find GPS to anywhere. Makes me really look forward to driving to Kansas City for a wedding in a few weeks.
And then the walk.
Like I said, not terrible. By now I only have two hours before a lunch date, then eventually it's off to the burbs for some car shopping. Now that just might be terrible.
It was a fabulous idea. We just went in what we had on, I didn't even bother to clip in. I did bring my bag, but I bring my bag everywhere and I've learned that lesson already. Easy or not, I wasn't going without at least an extra tube and the usual tools.
Smooth sailing, especially w/everyone else at the beach for the A&W show.
Which was too bad, b/c there is some weird shit up there. We'll definitely do it again soon though b/c we had a blast. I shouldn't be surprised we had fun--bikes are fun. Commuting is fine, but it doesn't hold a candle to being able to relax outside on a gorgeous day with the wife.
It's about a mile & 1/2 shorter down Lincoln but takes just as long. Oh boy will that be fun this winter. "Streets ahead" it's not. It felt a lot busier than Wilson to the path does, but that might be leaving later in the morning again. We'll see when the weather changes.
All in all it went well. Locking up on a tree is never my favorite but pickings were pretty slim.
When I was unemployed, there were a few interviews that I couldn't figure out how best to get to and ended up walking a ways. One such interview had me walking down lake all the way past the dan ryan. Going over the dan ryan today made me glad I rode instead of walked, but also made it feel like I was pretty far away.
There was also a river crossing with a grated bridge. I toughed it out on the way out, but after sliding all over the place the first time said screw that on the way in. I walked, b/c why the hell not.
Good times. Now to just make it through the next few hours, then enjoy a trip to Soldier Field for Bears' family night and a few Labatts. Thank god we have football this year.
An evening training meant a twilight ride home tonite, but I found myself actually wishing it was a little darker even. That feeling pretty much evaporated by the time I turned onto Wilson, but on the path it felt too light.
But it was a good way to end a long day, despite the chances for Friday to be even longer. I have to make a run to Chicago & Ashland in the middle of the day, and I think I might be breaking out the bike to get it done. Hopefully it's worth the effort. 
