The Other Shoe

Yes, the other shoe has dropped. Or, kicked me in the butt. I've been through a lot of crap lately, you know, job loss, bad knee, the on going diabetes battle, financial stress, but this is the worst of all. My wife of barely three years wants a divorce. She's not happy and says she doesn't love me any more. She wants to move on. So be it. I'm moving out on the first of the month. I'll move into my parent's basement until I can find a decent place. At least I'm not living in a van down by the river.

If it's some consolation, I'm not the only one around this is happening to. I stopped at the bank to close my part of our accounts and the bank officer said the economy has caused plenty of these types of thing happen. Financial stress just finishes off marriages quicker than most any cause now. At least we weren't fighting, which is good for her kid's sake. We are parting civilly and I will take the high road and not throw too many stones. It's a tough row to hoe, but I've been through it before and came out stronger. Maybe this time a bit wiser.

On the bright side, I'll have more time to train....

I had to go to Cloquet Tuesday for a job look-see. Fix some dry wall, paint, change some fixtures etc. for a friend of a friend. About three days work, not bad for the pay day. I took my mtb along and planned on riding the Munger Trail south from Carlton. Turning onto the trail from the Carlton rest stop, I ran into dirt. Dirt with rocks on both sides of the bridge. Who and why did they haul in this crap? I'm glad I didn't have the road bike, but it was fine on the mtb. After this ended, it was bare pavement, then hard packed snow and ice, with the occasional soft, slushy wheel snagger mixed in. I road about five miles and turned back. With the 50 degree weather, I figured the river rapids would be raging, so I headed back towards Duluth. As you can see, not much rapids, more ice. I guess it was a bit early to expect the trail to be clear. Probably another two weeks.

Being diabetic and a food fanatic, I'm always o the look out for recipes that agree with my system, ie don't spike my blood sugar. I always DVR Alton Brown on the Food channel, and yesterday, he had a whole wheat waffle recipe. I whipped up a batch this morning for me and the kids, and I think they were the best I've made at home. The kids didn't even realize they were whole wheat. They'd be better if I had a better waffle iron as mine is a dual purpose waffle iron/mini-griddle that's about 20 years old. Alton says round is a better type of iron, and I think he's right. Mine doesn't brown the outer edges very well. I'll have to look around for a better one that will fit the budget.

Today, I'm going to do some stretching and strength work on the ball, plus an hour of hill repeats this afternoon. The core work I did this winter has sure paid off, no back, shoulder, anything type of discomfort, even after a couple of hours. Hitting it a couple of times a week during the season should keep me there, I hope.

Sunny and 52

Yes, sunny and 52. A perfect day for a spring ride. After washing the van, a trip to Sam's Club, and various other duties, I set out for a quick spin. Two hours later, I swung back in the driveway. Where did the time go? Hill repeats. Standing sprints. Intervals. Why? Well, I wanted to see how my knee would hold up. It did OK, a little tender, but serviceable. Plus, I really needed to see where my fitness level is. Not bad, considering how much mass I am hauling around. Next will be more of the same, plus some steady zone 2, three hour + efforts, you know, to burn the fat.

Funny, the eco-stimulus package tricked down quickly to help the unemployment payments. An additional $25.00 has been added weekly. Now I've got some real buying power!

I've been contacted by a couple of local companies after seeing my resume on line. Something may come of these leads. I sure miss working, but how would all the stuff I do daily get done? The cats and dogs would be lost without me.

Our daughter is back in school and off the lovenox injections. She'll be on coumadin for @ 6 months, then do a study to see what the actual case of the blood clots is. Let's hope it isn't naturally occurring, because if it is, she'll be on the coumadin possibly for life. That would suck. She doesn't need or deserve more challenges at her age.

Luis Leon Sanchez won Paris-Nice Sunday, supposedly due to Alberto Contador's bonking and not tracking Sanchez. This according to Lance Armstrong, Contador's team mate. Look Lance, the spot light does NOT have to be shining on you all the time. That said, I'm glad Armstrong has come back to racing. We need more big time talent to keep the press interested, which in turn keeps the sponsorship money interested. And his cancer fighting leadership earns him a pass in my book. But don't expose a team mate as being not to bright. The egos at the top are sometimes fragile. Besides, shouldn't someone in the team car have told Alberto what was up and reminded him to eat? It is a TEAM effort, after all.

Jens Voigt. Enough said.

Good Things

The front page of yesterday's paper featured a picture of our daughter and the nice young man that helped her when she couldn't breathe at school last weak. Lots of kid just walked by as she was gasping for air, but the point guard on the basketball team, Carl Bowman, led the offense to get her help. The nurses evaluated the situation, got an ambulance, which rushed her to the hospital. Numerous blood clots were found in her lungs, and treatment has been successful to this point. Carl, who didn't know our daughter prior to this , even came to the hospital to see how she was doing. This kid is pure class and all heart. He plans on being a special ed teacher, and I fell he will be a great one. We need more people like Carl in this world. We really do.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in water, it looks like winter is going to smack us with another storm. I'll have to get a short ride in today, since I have a long list of things to take care of.

Looks like my boy Fabian Cancellara is going to be laid up for the spring classic campaign due to injuries from a training ride fall. happens to the best of us. I guess I'll be pulling for Gerts Stegman and Stuart O'Grady in the mean time. Paris-Nice is underway, so the real fun is just starting.