Its the little things

You've heard the phrase... "Its the little things that count."

Yes, its true. Some of the little things really DO matter.

Exhibit 1: Coworker wanted to "just catch-up" today. This isn't a usual behavior. However, it counted.

Exhibit 2: Friend gave me 4 beers and a puzzle christmas. Why only 4 beers? Well, despite the fact there were originally 6, two were missing...because he wanted to try them. I'm glad he took 2 and gave me four. It counted.

Exhibit 3: I got a weird package in the mail at work today- Global Express Mail from Japan (WTF). Enclosed was a card- Thank you Dr. Maria Stewart, we think you're great, a CD of photos, and most importantly a scrap book. This was a Christmas/thank you gift from the exchange students I taught this summer. Each page of the scrap book has a student's photo on the front side and a personal message on broken English on the back. Wow. I though my thank you poster from the 1st graders was something. This is a totally different category of "little things." This was way better than any purchased item they could have sent me from Japan. Its the little things that count.

Exhibit 4: I was baking up a storm in preparation for the holiday- Gingerbread cookies, pie, tortillas. Baking of this nature requires serious music, so I turned on the record player. Records jammin'. Then I put on Guero by Beck. This is a 45. I set the record player to 45 in preparation for more jammin'. Record starts while I"m in the middle of managing melting cookie dough (this is what gingerbread cookies do when you're kitchen is 95 degrees, prior to baking) and burning cookies. Gee something sounds weird, did I forget to switch it to 45? Wash hands. Check record player. Record player is at 45rmp. Ok, scientist in action. Get a crayon and make a mark on the record label. Timer. Go. 1, 2, 3, 4.... 42 rpms on a 45. Hmmm... lets abort Guero and switch to Leo Kottke (a 33). What? Leo Kotke just woke up? 31 on a 33rpm. Uh oh. I'll roll with it. Then it starts getting all won wooon woooooooooon won won woooon on me. Consult with the 'rents yields a suitable plan- dust and lube. Dismantle record player. No dust, lube still intact. Figure I was on crack. Put on Jack Johnson, To The Sea- I have this on my iPod also. Oh Dear. Jack is singing in 2 totally different keys- one key on my record, a totally different, higher key on my iPod. Record player is on the outs. Almost cried. Then I decided it didn't matter. So I put Jack on, head phones in. Life is good. Long story short... Record player is obviously a member of the fam, but its just a material object. Time to think about what really matters, like the little things... and make 'em count.

Merry Christmas.

This is why I don't have any patience at the end of the day.

This is an email I received from a student today:

Student: Hello. So I register for classes tomorrow and I was wondering how I could get instructor approval for FSHN 181 and Lab.

Me: You need to contact the instructor.

Its been too long since you last surfed if...

(1) You elect not to rewax your board because its too dusty
(2) As you're leaving, you can't decide if you have all of your "gear"
(3) You can't remember which leg you leash belongs on

Haven't surfed since August. Caught every wave I went for. My rides weren't necessarily pretty, but it was fun!

And then there were 15

I few weeks ago, I took my lil' Kona (aka 24 inches of love) to a downhill race. The lil' Kona is a hardtail dirt jumper that rides down hills better than my XC bike, but its not a DH bike. I haven't raced my bike just down a hill in years. It was a little intimidating, especially since I knew I needed to keep my shoulder where it belonged. Despite my apprehensions, I had a great race and a really fun time. Mountain bikers way more awesome than triathletes. Then I got to thinking... maybe I need a downhill bike. I had recently been toying with the idea of a full suspension XC bike, but ruled that one out because I really like to stand when I climb, and my Orbea is the jamm. A DH bike seemed like a good idea for several reasons: (1) I actually live somewhere I can ride it on trails (2) I don't have one (3) Sideburnz has one that he doesn't ride much, but he should ride it more (4) Riding down hills is awesome.

Since we have a large quiver of bikes, I didn't see the sense in being hasty, so I made a strategic plan. I would have to ride my lil Kona on a regular basis to demonstrate that a DH bike would get used. I would also have to show that my lil Kona was inadequate for the terrain I wanted to ride (not sure how I was going to do that, but hopefully it wouldn't involve any ER trips). Then after several months of saving, I could buy a DH bike.

I was feeling quite logical for about 8 hours until Sideburnz starting looking on the internet for tiny DH bikes. Low and behold, someone was selling a DH bike in Honolulu, size small. The ad was about a month old, but I contacted the seller anyhow. He emailed back right away- yes the bike was still available, would I like to check it out. **Warning** Warning** This is a dangerous situation, there is a high probability of exchanging dollar bills for bicycles if you get to test ride a bike. So I went down to check it out, with the expectation that the bike would be huge like the Straight 8 and I"d never be able to ride it.

The seller was a guy not much bigger than me who had the suspension dialed for 140 lbs. This is the first time I've ever sat on a FS bike and had it sag! I took it for a test ride in downtown and rode off a bunch of cement planters. Sweet. This bike was going to be at my house in no time. Monday this week, it finally made it home and yesterday I took it to the trails next to my house. So now there are 15. The Orange was so much fun- I finally rode a few segments of trail that I can't ride on my XC bike. I thought the hike-a-bike would get old, but it didn't (note to self: bring water next time). I even launched off some rocks on my first outing. Here's number 15:



So now, all I want to do is ride downhill bikes.

This is how (un)exciting my life is

Our 25 cent toaster from the Punahou carnival white elephant tent has finally died. It lasted nearly 2 years- not bad for a garage sale find. The toasting sensor thinks that frozen bread is toasted. No matter what degree of doneness I select, the toaster pops up after about 30 seconds. I fought with the old toaster for a few weeks, cleaning it out, turning the toast around and restarting, doing a little toasting dance, yelling at it... nothing worked. Sideburnz and I discussed the prospects of replacing the toaster with a toaster oven. It was unclear when or if a toaster oven would get purchased, since someone would need to go to the mall.

Well, yesterday, the old toaster tipped me over the edge, and I treked to the mall to buy a replacement. (This trip was also motivated by 2 victoria's secret coupons and the fact that I desperately need to retire 3 of my bras that I purchased 8 or 9 years ago.) Macy's pulled through- not only was the toaster oven on sale for nearly 50% off (retail 69.99, sale price 39.99), but I still had 2 gift cards from our wedding! Pretty sweet to get a wedding gift almost 2 years after you got married.

Here she is:


http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=328107&CategoryID=17664

Last night I investigated the "bake" function. In 7 minutes I had a delicious openfaced turkey-cheese melt. Wow, this thing is great!

This morning was the moment of truth... how would it handle my bagel bar (a bagel like item in the shape of a rectangle). This was one item the old toaster always rejected. The toast mode has 12 different settings: 6 levels of doneness x frozen or room temp. I set it for T-2 (room temp, light/medium toastiness). Once I pressed "start," the display showed a timer count down... this is too cool... I know that my bagel bar will be done toasting in 3 minutes! Wow. So I let the toaster oven do its thing, and when it beeped, I took my bagel bar out. Golden brown. Awesome. It was warmed all the way through so it melted my peanut butter just a little bit. I've been longing for melty peanut butter on my toast. I maybe would set it for T-3 next time, but T-2 was still a huge improvement over the old toaster. I can tell that the toaster oven and I are beginning a long, wonderful friendship.

Weekend plans

Today I'll be able to check off yet another neighbor island from my list: Kauai. The Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers Association Annual Meeting is on Kauai this weekend. When I submitted my travel documents for this trip, my fiscal officer said, "You didn't list a rental car, how are you getting to the hotel?" I just shrugged my shoulders. I knew it was less than 10 miles from the airport to the hotel. I figured I could take a cab or see if someone else was going to the hotel, maybe find a hotel shuttle. A rental car seemed ridiculous. I didn't have a plan, but I didn't care. This week my plan has fully developed: Travelers Check + knobbies + minimal luggage (1 backpack) = I should be able to ride the 5.6 miles from Lihue Airport to the Aston Aloha Beach. This is reminiscent of Finland and I'm totally digging it. I fully expect some challenges along the way. More updates to come.

A continuation of my bike breaking saga

The new (rebuilt) FOX arrived a few weeks ago. I missed it. I liked being fully rigid for a variety of reasons: the principle of it, awesome cornering, amazing climbing, bike was a tough lighter. But then there's the lava rock... my rigid fork and I didn't agree on that topic. Maybe I'm getting old, but the lava rock was too hard on my upper body. I don't know how sideburnz does it- except maybe its his 2-9er set up. I recently found out that others of my stature ride 29ers.

Even with my new frame and new fork, I had a nagging creak. Thought it might be the seat or the handlebars... nope. My egg beaters had 1/2 cm of lateral play. I'm shocked that my pedal hadn't ejected itself. Now I have brand, spanking new pedals. They also don't click anymore. The next replacement item is my saddle. Unfortunately, my SDG saddle came from the Madison Swap (I think), and its no longer in production. What to do... might try the WTB Rocket V. It fits my primary requirements- narrow, sweeps up in the back, nothin fancy. Sideburnz also recommended new handle bars since I guess they have an expiration date. Pretty soon this Orbea will be all new (and my checking acct will be drained).