If I Only Had a Brain

It’s official. I have lost my befuddled, confused mind. The last two weeks have been crazy busy here at work and yesterday the IT dept made the big move (about 30 ft) across the hall to a temporary sanctuary while our area gets its facelift. This former conference room has morphed over the years from its original purpose to an ITV classroom, back to a conference room, then chopped up and vastly shrunk to make room for offices on the other side and now into alternate cubicle offices for those in transition. (That was one long sentence.) So yesterday was our turn to shuffle and I have misplaced a few things that I normally can get my hands on immediately. At any rate, my credenza is now behind me and this is where I’ve always set my coffee mug and water glass. Now I know it was a chaotic madhouse yesterday and I was quite distracted but I was indeed drinking out of that glass all yesterday afternoon and am absolutely positive it never budged. Surely it wasn’t swiped by some nefarious personage masquerading as a benign colleague? And if they were going to filch a mug, why couldn’t they at least have picked the cheap Dollar General coffee mug that I bought here in town for a whopping dollar? "S" suggested maybe my secret pal took it and they are going to give it back to me as a present because they are cheap. Or possibly they borrowed it temporarily with plans of returning it filled with candy. That’s putting a positive spin on things but I’m not so optimistic.

Anyway, I walk in this morning and it has vanished into thin air. Poof! So I’m frantically scratching my head as to where it possibly could have gone. I checked the obvious places but to no avail. After wandering back to our old area in search of this special OBX glass I discover to my horror three Fedex envelopes from last Thursday that were processed but never picked up for distribution! OMG!! How did I blank out and drop the ball so badly on this one??? I can’t remember what happened yesterday let alone what occurred a solid week ago. And they were tests to far sites meant to be taken this past Tuesday. Yikes! I’m very surprised the instructor hadn’t called me demanding to know their whereabouts but she hasn’t so I’ve bitten the bullet and left a VM to discuss making amends. I’d say the day can only get better but we’re expecting severe storms this afternoon so I cannot envision that happening. In conclusion, has anyone seen my brain?

Bicycle Built for Speed

I got a new road bike for my birthday and yesterday I broke it in. First of all, let me explain that a bike used for racing and those huge, mammoth bike rides are not like the bikes we ride as kids nor are they the bike you run up to Wal-mart and get for a little ride around the neighborhood. They are specifically for your height and inseam and they are designed so that you have to reach as faaaaar as your little arms will go to get to the brakes and gear shifts! Not only that, but they expect you to wear shoes with cleats to lock in your feet!

What the heck is that all about!?

My first attempt to get on the bike was just that. An attempt. I failed to get my leg thrown over the thing because the seat was too high. Got that adjusted and then I have to attempt to get a foot on the pedal, and locked in, and take off. Easier said than done. When you're standing on the ground, your seat comes to just right above your butt crack so it's not like you can just sit down and take off. Nope. You have to get one foot on and stand up to get on your seat (gotta get rolling too or you will fall and keep in mind your foot is locked in and if you start to fall you have to not forget to snap your shoe out of the pedal to catch yourself) and throw the other foot into locked position. Start pedaling!

I walked my bike to a safe area to get started. You know, the area on the bottom of the hill, past the poles (so I wont hit them), where hopefully no one can see me try to take a ride. Monday's at 6pm are busy on the trails! I managed to take off and with only a little struggle on the second cleat, I was off and riding!

I rode 12 miles on my first day with no accidents. I didn't wreck or run over anyone or get run over. I did a little off-roading by accident, but nothing major. I managed to maintain control of the vehicle at all times!

Today, I rode another 12 miles in horrid wind... and my butt bone hurts like no other! It was sore from yesterday, but today its major sore. Is there a treatment for that? Bike Butt!