weekend up north

ah! finally back on the bike again. it had been 24 days since i last straddled my big cheater bike and boy did it feel good! it was an absolutely perfect day up in harbor springs. mid-70s, low humidity and not a cloud in the sky! now that's my kind of ridin' weather, not the 100 degree bake-fests we've had in the past few weeks. (and no, i'm not referring to tom in amsterdam!) we took the lift up to the top of the mountain and followed the xc trails. i'm not a big freeride fan so i really didn't want to hurt myself on the stunts. unfortunately, elizabeth was a bit more adventurous. she followed chris and mike into the freeride park. she came out w/ an arm she can barely move. i've yet to hear back from her so i don't know if it's broken or not.

the trails are poorly marked. we got lost on our first loop and spent about 2.5 hrs before we came back down. 8.5 miles. yikes! so we went back up and did it again. this time it had a lot more flow since we sort of knew where we were going. the trail had some fun sections but definitely not worth the drive or the $15 lift ticket. it was fun to just be back on the bike nonetheless.

so after 19 miles, it was party time back at the condo! all i can say is that i drank for nearly 12 hrs. and almost drank a fifth of liquor which consisted of copious amounts of jager, grey goose and even a large shot or two of tequila. some stupidity ensued, of course and i felt like shit on sunday. so, no riding for me. just a LONG drive home. i'm just starting to feel somewhat normal today.

i'd like to get on the bike again this week. maybe maybury tomorrow and pontiac over the weekend. i miss riding.

mid-week musings

yummy lunch at this crappy place i call work. this place sucks ass. so they've been trying to get us fairly compensated for the last year and a half by doing all this research into salary ranges for our industry. they told us we would be at the 25th percentile for our job description salary range. personally, being in the 25th percentile does NOTHING for me. so three-quarters of all other employees doing the EXACT same thing as me are making more than me. so what incentive do i have to bust my ass and now hang out on the luv board all day? NONE! keep in mind that they want to bring us up to the 25th percnetile since we are currently below it. so my boss told me last night they're gonna make a 6.5% adjustment. i told him that was unacceptable and that i had a certain dollar amount in mind...roughly twice what they were offering me. yeah, yeah, everyone says they're underpaid but i have the proof by looking at salary surveys and talking to other people, not to mention looking at actually salary ranges within other companies. so my awesome boss talked to human resources this morning and told them what i wanted and that it would cost them more money to go out and look for a replacement. he also told me that what i had asked for would put me right at the 25th percentile. WTF???? i thought they were automatically putting us there. so instead, they were gonna short change me again. uh-uh. not this time. i really hope they follow through and put where i think i should be, but what company EVER does that? so hopefully things work out so i can get the rest of my medical bills paid and out of the ghetto neighborhood we live in!

i said goodbye to my beloved WRX yesterday afternoon. some stranger drove it off into the distance. i was, however, rewarded with a hugh wad of cash! i don't think i've ever held that much cash before! unfortunately, it's money that's already spent. not on anything good but on brain surgery. well, i guess it's good because i probably wouldn't be here typing right now if i didn't pay for it.

so, i'm looking forward to the weekend! i've been WAY too busy to ride. it's been 3 frickin' weeks! going up to boyne highlands for some play time. hopefully, it'll be fun and i don't bonk because i'm sooooo out of shape!

hello

damn, it's been WAY too long. i'm surprised people are still visiting this sad site i call my blog. anyway, i'm sipping on a grey goose and red bull right now. make that a double. sir-mix-a-lot's in trouble. i'm in a weird mood tonight. slightly depressed (don't know why), slightly lonely (don't know why) and WAY out of shape. the last time i rode was that double island lake i did for o2s training more than 2 weeks ago. needless to say, i'm out on o2s. i HATE the heat and it's been so damn hot lately that i just had no motivation to ride. i could've ridden the trainer but there's NO way i'm riding a fucking trainer in the middle of the summer to train for a stupid race. it just wouldn't have been worth it. a day off of work, 3 nights in a motel plus the long drive up to the U.P. about a three hundred doh-lar trip. i'd MUCH rather spend that money on a family trip than to ride 24 miles, cramp up and then suffer the last 24. maybe next year. i'm still planning on doing iceman. anyone have any suggestions as to what tires i should run?

went to see dashboard confessional last night...ALONE! i've liked those guys for a long time but never saw them live. i got some tix off of craigslist. 5th row. no one wanted to go with me so i had to unload the extra ticket for cheap. i make such a bad salesman. big surprise. little did i know i'd be in for a teenage scream-fest. O-mah-gawd! i think chris carraba is talented and all and i like some of his songs but come on! lot's of creamin' going on. it was such a young crowd that they didn't even sell alcohol at the venue! so it went like this...i stood outside of the MI theatre for about an hour before dumping the ticket. then, i headed to the closet bar to get some drinking done before the show. 2 pints and 2 shots of jager in 20 minutes and i headed into the theatre. that's when i found out they weren't serving. since they allowed readmittance, i headed back over to the bar. 2 more pints and 2 more shots in 10 minutes on an empty stomach sent me flying into the concert. had a brief conversation w/ the seventeen year old kid i sold my other ticket to. wondered why one of his friends was such a bitch. obviously, it was her parent's fault. i know what NOT to do as a parent...um, for the most part.

so, i'm a fucked up kid. slightly depressed, slightly lonely and getting slightly drunk...