3100, 20 and -1

Number of posts: 3100. nothing significant about it but it is still a number that isn't 3099 or 3104 or something random. Like the odometer certain numbers get noticed. The Passat was parked at 222,222 for a good bit of time. Going to have to dig that beast out for tomorrow though now that I think of it. Shoot. Should have thought about it when I could have let the sun do some work as far as clearing the snow and ice off the windshield. Oh well. Have to put it in service to do a Dentist run for one of the kids tomorrow. I think the timing is retarded on it, the harder than normal cold starting and the slightly smokier running and smoother/quiet idle sort of clue me in to that. I'd check it but the only laptop computer with the diagnostic software on and a serial cable connection is 15 years old, and well, i guess that's kind of a long time to expect a computer, much less a laptop to work. Only way to check the timing is with a computer, which normally isn't a bad thing since everything is managed by the computer and the maps and sensors and what not and you need it to work on it. Might have to focus on trying to get that ancient laptop to boot long enough to pull the VWTool software off and try and make it work on a not so ancient one with a serial cable so i can get the damn car.

Well hey, there you go some good old gewilli rambling incoherent words.

20. That be vertical leap in inches right now. Not much I know. esp considering i'm tall and stuff. But white men can't jump right? Well walking down the hall to my office I wonder if i can hit the acoustic tiles with my head, by jumping. So today I gave it a shot. And I knocked the hell out of them. If I'm not careful and don't time the jump to hit the tiles in the middle i could probably mess the supports up pretty good. don't want to do that. So then I thought, well I wonder if I can knock them from a standing still position instead of with a running start.

Yup. 20" is just from the top of my head to just past the tiles. Maybe I can get more elevation. Dunno. But all i remember is never hitting the 20" range before. Numbers like 15" stick in my head. And those might have been added by hand extension. Can't make your head any higher lifting a shoulder.

-1 was how cold it was at the house when i left to ride in. Probably would have been better if I wasn't pedaling in circles waiting for 10 minutes for my co-worker to get to the meeting spot. I nailed the clothing for my head, trunk, arms and hands, and from mid-thigh to ankle. BUT the upper half of the thigh from the top of the leg warmer to the bottom of my baselayer on top was a bit cold. And I went with two pairs of med-thin socks. Probably would have been warmer with just one pair of socks. Toes were cold when i got it.

Once we hit the washington bridge and had to walk up to it, then ride slowly and bumpily across the snow covered solid ice my legs had warmed up (it seemed) but my toes weren't getting warmer. 50 minutes of riding from door to door and ~8 min of pedaling slowly in circles in the sun waiting. Took it pretty easy because of the 10mph headwind and mark had played too much squash the day before and his legs were jello, so i just kept the cadence high and his shadow in my periphery vision. Seemed to work out okay.

Tonight we're going to try and make the indoor trainer session work with the ballet. Timing isn't perfect and that may be a deal breaker. We'll see. I could send em all home early and just ride home, and maybe it will come to that next week or something.

And yes, everyone is tired of me talking about these tires but i gotta say, they hook UP. There's a good number of spots along the road where the ice goes way out into the middle of the lane or across the road and I have no pucker factor anymore. I've tried locking them up on skating rink smooth ice a few times and all i've done is just skid in the direction of momentum. No slipping out sideways like happens with unstudded tires on ice.

And no - not all tires are alike. These Marathon Winters are awesome. Freaking buzz saws. yeah heavy as hell and slow... but bacon saving. And I probably won't stop talking about them until I put some Marathon Plus tires back on when the ice threat has passed.