July is hot in the valley

My last post was senseless knowledge, that probably made no impact on any ones life. This post will likely be similar.

I had my knee scoped on 7/1. This is my second surgery on my left knee sense 2004. The doctor was able to pull out two rather large pieces of floating cartilage, and cut a torn piece of my ACL. The recovery is coming along, but it has been depressing not being able to ride my bike for the past 6 or 8 weeks. Now that Le Tour is on it makes it even worse. I started PT last week and it seems to be going well. I ride bikes with some of the guys at PT so it makes it nicer knowing they want me back as soon as possible. I hope to be back for short rides next week.

Nothing really exciting has happened at the house lately. I'm still waiting on updates from Charlie on his progress. Ashley and I have decided in order to save a little extra money we are not going out for meals very much. It is obviously working, but I still crave some of the favorites every once and a while.

Work has obviously slowed down. I have been keeping my head down and keeping below the radar. I make nearly 30 phone calls a day looking for new jobs, and I hope it pays off here soon. It has been over 100 for the past week and it is really getting old. Erik's girlfriend Alex and Ashley made fun of Erik and I for commenting on the "Delta Breeze" last time we went to Sac. and let me tell you, I would give anything for a delta breeze right now.

I should get back to work. I'll let everyone know how the rehab is going in a few weeks.

Until then...

Interesting News

I think I will write about Bermuda, after all I was born there. Did you know that Bermuda is only 20.6 sq. mi.? Bermuda is actually a cluster of 138 islands that were settled in 1612 by the British. I was born in the new capital City of Hamilton that lies in Pembroke Parish, not in Hamilton Parish as most would expect. My family and I traveled to Bermuda about five years ago and one of the guides joked that Bermuda only made two things in the islands: Rum, and babies... naturally in that order too. However, finance is the largest sector followed by tourism and an unemployment rate of -21%. That means they ship people over to work... not bad! The beaches in Bermuda are renowned for their pink sand, which actually comes from the coral off the coast along the reefs which surround the islands. Bermuda has the fifth oldest acting parliament in the world.



Bermuda's per-capita income is 50% higher then that of the United States. In 2007 Bermuda had a GDP of $5.85 billion, or $91,477 per-capita this gave Bermuda the highest GDP in the world. This becomes an issue because the average cost of a house was estimated in 2007 to cost $1.845 million although these figures have been disputed. The Bermuda Stock Exchange is now the largest fully electronic offshore securities market.



In July of 2005 the population was estimated at 65,365 wherein 54.8% were black and 34.1% were white.



I think that does it for today. But this is where I was born, and if you ever get a chance to visit I would take it. The island is small but it is a ton of fun. Don't forget that Bermuda also has the worlds smallest draw bridge too.







Until next time...

Weekend Racing

Here are a few photos from this weekends race. I finished 7th in the Cat:3

Check out my sweet mustache...

Weekend

This weekend marks the beginning of my race season. Not only are we doing two road races, but the weather is going to be horrific.

Ashley and I just had our six month anniversary yesterday. Thats a long time for me, and it is always exciting.

V-day is tomorrow and as luck or lack their of I will be out of town. Ashley is giving me crap, but she doesn't really mean it. We are planning on doing V-day stuff tonight, which will be really nice.

I hope everyone has a plesent weekend.

Until then...

Sunday

Not our typical Sunday for sure. The only thing that was normal was breakfast at the Village Grill. Most Sundays we eat brunch, then lay in bed all day and read the paper. Yesterday we both had a lot of things to get done. Ashley just started school again, and she had a few things to get done prior to her going back today. Craig roped me into playing a little out door soccer with the boys and watching the AC Milan game at his house. Soccer was good, and the game was kind of a let down, however it was nice to see everyone and hang out with Craig. Ashley and I met back up and loaded up the car with her vac. and carpet cleaner. I finished painting the guest room, while she vacuumed, and shampooed the bedrooms. She did a fantastic job, and everything looks really good. I have a few things to still do in the guest room, but it will look really nice when it is finished. 

This is off topic, because i know it says Sunday but Saturday was really nice. I went to Simi Valley with a few friends to ride my bike. The Simi ride is well known for being a very fast, hard ride. It didn't disappoint me. I cant wait till next week.

I hope everyone has a great week.

Until next time...

G

New Year

I hadn't realized how long it had been sense I posted something on this. Sorry for keeping you out of the loop. I guess we can go month by month to catch up.

September:

September was my birthday month. Ashley came back from Georgia, and within  a week I left for Chico. I went to my annual Chico road race. This year I was able to race with the pro's. I ended up getting 11th which wasn't all that bad after getting cramps. It was a very nice weekend all together, because I was able to spend time with old college buddies. Pat and Gareth were great to hang out with again. Thanks to Gareth I didn't have to sleep on the floor of my sisters place. It was kind of funny though how fast we all have grown up. G and I one night went out to see Pat for a while and ended up coming home around 10 because we were tired. I guess that's what happens when you have to get up in the morning and go to work.

October:

October was a lot of fun. I started a nightclub project, which actually ended up looking pretty cool. Ashley and I went to a great Halloween party in Wasco, and we took all the dogs to the pumpkin patch. Ashley and I carved our pumpkins and passed out candy, while drinking cocktails. It is hard for me to even remember what I did last week so excuse me if this is kind of vague.

November:

I really like Novembers. The leaves change in down town Bakersfield and the weather starts to get cold. The project is till running however I do not have a permit at this time, so Tom and I are doing everything we can to move forward without going too far to where we need a inspection. This goes on for a while. Ashley and I ended up making Thanksgiving for her father and grandmother, and just relaxed the entire day. My parents went up north to my aunt and uncles for a change. Everyone had a great dinner. Ashley and I are pretty good cooks, and we work well together in the house and kitchen. 

December:

December was a crazy month for me. It was Ashley's birthday month... and believe me we started celebrating on the 1st through the 31st. I don't know how I managed it. My roommate left this month. Ashley and I went to Disney Land two weeks before Christmas and had a wonderful time. Ashley's birthday was great, I think she had a good time. Her hole family was their. Her mother even came up from LA, and her sister was in town from Georgia for the holidays. I hope she had a great December, she deserved it. The nightclub was completed on the 31st just in time for their New Years party. I was scared we weren't going to make the opening date, but somehow we managed to pull it off. Not bad for only having the permit for 3.5 weeks and having Christmas mess up my schedule. I also got a new road frame this month, which I am very excited about. The new bike is only 14 lbs. and is a screaming race machine. I will post a photo as soon as I can. My training was pretty much nonexistent, but I don't want to be in the same shape I was in last year at this time.

January:

Our New Years was very nice, pretty mellow and relaxing. Ashley, Atalie, Josh and I went to the cabin on the 1st and 2nd. The snow level was kind of higher then we thought, but we were able to take the Subaru up far enough to make snowmen, and go sledding. We hung out by the fire and watched the new Batman movie on Thursday. Josh and I made dinner for the girls, and went to bed around 9... haha. We took the long road home to Glenville and had Dinner at the pizza place before making it back home. Saturday Ashley had to work, and I prepared for a cyclocross race. The race on Sunday was pretty nice, but really hard. I ended up getting 3rd in the CAT3's which isn't bad, but I was disappointed. Ashley came out to watch which is always nice. She always says I did good, even if I think I did poor.

This month will be a lot of training and working hard. Ashley started school again and is in the process of getting a job in her field. I think this will really help her when she is looking for a permanent position. I plan on keeping 2009 up to date.

until then...

latest news

Not much is going on in Bakersfield. Given the economic debacle we have found ourselves in, everything seems to be slowing down. I find is very interesting that our economy can be so irresponsible. My friend told me yesterday that California is applying for aid from the fed, because our budget is not enough to cary the 5th largest economy in the world! Does this mean that the 5th largest economy in the world is going to be bankrupt? I highly doubt it, but I have started to see the shock-wave created by the stock market. I haven't been able to really keep up on the latest information on the "bail out bill" but I am skeptical. What is this going to do to the U.S. dollar? How does this so called "bail out" help the people that can afford their mortgage payments, and were responsible with there fixed mortgages? Why do the people that couldn't afford a house and opted for a interest only loan only get a slap on the wrist, and a pat on the butt. If the economy is so screwed up, why not give the public money to infuse back into the economy. I personally would use that money to pay off school, pay off my house, and any other debt I might have, whereas most of the public would go shopping and waist it all on big screen TV's, and new cars. Consumers in the states are so hell bent on consuming goods that they don' think of the big picture. Yeah it would be nice to have a big screen TV but do I really need it... no. I just hope this recession doesn't last very long. Enough about the economy...

The past few weeks have been like a roller coaster, as one could imagine. With the passing of my grandfather about a month ago, and his service just two weeks ago, things have been better. I am very grateful to have such a strong family, and a special person in my life to keep me occupied. Ash and I went to a race last sunday in Costa Mesa and then spent some time in HB. We took all three of the dogs, and met her mother down south. I think everyone had a great time. I couldn't have been happier. The dogs had never been down south, and Ashley had never been to HB. We didn't really have time to shop around but we had lunch, and walked the dogs around. I really enjoy every minute I get to spend with her.

Well, everything else is great. Ashley and I are trying to figure out what we are going to do this weekend. She finally has Saturday and Sunday off, but we might just end up laying around all weekend. Either way, time spent with her is good time.

Until next time...