treat yo' self

B/c if you don't, no one else will.

Whether it's full Batman suits or the bottle of rye you've had your eye on for a while, sometimes it's just time to open up the wallet. For me, that time is today.
Too bad the Binny's downtown has the MOST unfriendly lady I've ever seen behind the counter. You would think selling booze in the middle of the week would be a fun job to have. Guess not. I do love living in Chicago though.

So now I'm going to be riding home with a $70 bottle of whiskey in my bag, a bag currently held together with duct tape and safety pins. Suddenly I'm rethinking the wisdom of not treating myself on something more practical.
Eh, what the hell. It's been good enough for my ridonkulously expensive work ipad lately. It'll be fine. As long as I get to actually drink it IDGAF.

Current beer-scale: 9.8

of course

While I wait to hear a response from Trek regarding my busted frame, of course I have chain issues with the tank on the way to work. And of course my wrench apparently did not make it back into my bag after I used it last, which meant a lot of stopping to slop the chain back on and bang the wheel back to a straight position. Good times.

Amidst this crap-tacular ride I had a moment of clarity. I realized how much sharper I felt I had to stay riding down Lincoln versus the path and how much less I enjoyed the commute that way. Spending a morning feeling like the slightest lapse in concentration could result in my getting splattered by someone driving their Range Rover with their phone stuck to their face put me in a lousy mood.

But sooner or later I'm going to get a break for a few weeks, as the wife was slightly dilated at her last doctor's appointment. The baby seems to be getting ready to make his debut, and the thought of that both excites and terrifies me way more than anything I'm encountering during a lousy bike commute.

Current beer-scale: 7.8

quit being a baby.

Never a good sign when your bike mechanic uses phrases like "terrible looking" and "end of the world" when he's taking a look at your ride. At least he said I seemed to be taking things well.

Let's hope Trek is able to live up the their lifetime frame warranty. And I'll try not to whine too much about how much a whooping cough vaccine ends up hurting (turns out, it's a lot).

Current beer-scale: 7.5

Counting down

Tell me what the big deal about getting that set up was supposed to be?
Car seat's in. Bike work done. Whooping cough shot (really?) tomorrow, possibly followed by a road tune-up. Nice. Granted, the LATCH system being pretty much idiot-proof had a lot to do with that, but I never said I wasn't an idiot.

Now let's drink some beer.

Current beer-scale: 4.1

need some work done

As great as it is to have a week of record-breaking temperatures in March, I need to get the trek tuned up ASAP. The cat 6'er in me can't handle getting dropped by a bunch of spandex-clad road warriors while I'm toiling away on the tank.

But hey, a little aggravation is a small price to pay for how great it's been.

Current beer-scale: 7.2

too good

An early Dr. appointment meant the wife and I took the entire day off yesterday, and it was glorious. We were home by 11 AM, walked to lunch in the square, and took the dog to the beach to round things out. Just a fabulous way to spend a day we should have been at the office. Shorts and a t-shirt on March 19th? I'll take that, even if any snow would break me at this point. And having said that, I'm near-positive that the baby will get here in the middle of the biggest April blizzard in history. Way to stay positive.

Current beer-scale: 8.1

Whew!

80 degrees on March 15? I'll take that. Fire up the grill.
I almost ran over a dog on the way home tonite. A jack russell got away from some kids playing with him and ran across State street as I was heading out. I actually stopped to help grab him just b/c I hate the thought of a dog getting run over. The kids were so cool about it I didn't even bother yelling at them about getting a leash. They said thank you and everything. It kind of made my night, and made the craziness that was the LFP that much easier to handle. Good times.

Now to have some Guinness and enjoy some bbq. Fan-fucking-tastic.Current beer-scale: 7.7

say what?

I should have come in later this morning. I slugged through a nasty headwind and temps in the mid-30's. Suddenly the sun it out and it's 55 degrees. What?

Apparently those crappy headwinds are responsible for bringing those nice temperatures north to us so I shouldn't be too upset. And they'll keep blowing all day today, giving us the warmest day in over three months tomorrow. This is after a Sunday snowfall that made Monday feel that much colder. Ah, spring in Chicago.
Current beer-scale: 7.6 and I hope I'm still awake enough to have a flywheel during "Justified" tonite.

yikes

Nearly got doored last night coming home, by some chick throwing open her door on Lincoln right before Belmont. I ended up with a hand on the cab to my left to stay steady as I slammed on the brakes and started screaming at this lady clue-lessly stepping into the street. Really, full volume, letting her have it. Not my best moment, but I was already in a pissy mood and fuck that lady for not looking around. If the worst things that came out of it was me calling someone a cunt then so be it.

This is at the end of a long week where I'm not really feeling the bike right now. Taking the train on Monday should take care of that but really, the nearness of what happened last night was enough to put me back on the bike this morning just looking for someone to flip out on. And looking for beer on the way home tonite.

Current beer-scale: 8.9