Replies. mp3It was an excellent weekend all around - One of our busiest, but also a lot of fun.
On Sunday I had the chance to go riding with my friend Mike and Maaike. We hadn't had a chance to meet up in several months, so when Mike mentioned they were going to come in from Birmingham this weekend for some biking, I told him to surprise me with either their road or mountain bikes. Really, though, I was hoping they'd bring their road bikes, since I haven't had much confidence in mountain biking since Sope Creek and the Greenway.
So when they pulled into our driveway Saturday night with their mountain bikes loaded on their Passat, I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. No road riding? "Suck it up!" I thought, and just to stay injury-free. Mike initially brought up the idea of trying Sope Creek again, but I suggested going to Blankets Creek, a mountain biking park about 25 minutes from Alpharetta that several people at work have raved about. I had no idea what to expect but knew they had multiple trails for all levels of riding.
We arrived, mounted up and took off to Dwellings, their beginner-to-intermediate level trail, and it was *awesome*. Blankets was the best mountain biking I've ever done! The trails are very well designed for a nice combination of fun with a workout. Apparently none of them are too technical, but they all have good hills and fun switchbacks. We did one loop of the 3.7-mile trail, then decided to hit it again instead of going to brunch. I've never done 10 miles of pure mountain biking before. Here are a few shots...
See you out there!
Replies. mp3I came across this article on CNN the other day and it prompted me to want to write a quick post about the joys of the job interview. Specifically, since the article itself talks about what *not* to do during an interview, I thought I'd lay out some of my personal suggestions on what to do (and not to do) if you want to land the job. For example...
I'm surprisingly in a good mood for how my morning started off!
After several weeks of talking about it, last night I played tennis with a friend from work at some courts near the office. It was a good time, although we only played for about an hour. I just didn't have the energy to keep going after 7. Anyway, in the middle of playing I took of my sunglasses and set them next to the court, telling myself, "Michael, *don't* forget your sunglasses when you leave!" Of course, I forgot my sunglasses, realizing it only when I got home an hour later.
Onto this morning... I left the house early to head back to the courts to see if, by some miracle, my Oakleys were there. No miracle. Who plays tennis after 7:00 at night in the rain? Apparently people in Vinings do. And those Vinings bastards took the sunglasses I've had since my wife bought them for me for Valentine's Day 4 years ago. Maybe the property management company has them... Doubtful, but I'll call.
Dejectedly I got back into my car to head to the office... Except the Jetta wouldn't start. Massive FAIL. It turns over once - chachunk! - and nothing else. I called a guy from work who usually comes in early and, thankfully, he was able to swing by and pick me up. As I was sitting in my car contemplating how expensive the fix would be, especially factoring in a tow truck, I started to think if the problem was electrical. So when my office mate arrived, we tried jumping the VW. Success! I drove the car to the VW deal up the street from the office, he followed, and we went to the office together.
My Jetta is 8 years old, has 110K miles on it, and this is now 3 trips to the dealer since October. The first two trips cost $1500 each, and this one will cost around $200 for a new battery. We've been talking about getting a new car for me later this year, but I may want to accelerate those plans a few months. I've been leaning towards a few cars - a Mini Cooper, the Passat Wagon, and the Mazda 3. Any ideas or suggestions? I want something that's fun to drive and with decent gas mileage. Oh, and I want to be able to afford it. Maybe a Scion? Yaris? We'll see.
Replies.Mark, thanks for the gentle prodding to post something after a long absence! I suppose you can call this a pre-Father’s Day post.
I’d like to think I picked up some pretty valuable characteristics from my father, like my strong work ethic and dedication to family. I certainly did not, however, pick up Dad’s Fix-It gene; I’ve never really been a super-handy kinda guy. My father, on the other hand, can do just about anything around the house, including plumbing, electrical and woodwork. He even built two beautiful, heirloom-quality cradles for Gabriel and Gracyn when they were born. Me? Not so much. I helped him out with the occasional project, like building my parents’ screened patio over a decade ago, but that’s about where my handyman skills ended. Oh, and I put in a dimmer switch in Gabriel’s bedroom two years ago and only shocked myself once! doing it.
So, I was pretty stoked last weekend when I felt some initial stirrings, rumblings, if you will, of handyman capabilities. Sunday afternoon I replaced the float, valve and handle on our downstairs toilet. Then I immediately followed it up by sanding off and re-gluing our kitchen/family room threshold. I also scraped up my hands in the process, which only adds to my handyman street cred. I went to bed thinking Bob Villa and I could be best buds.
And then tonight happened.
Over the weekend the knob to our guest tub/shower stopped working, and we decided to call on our home warranty company to fix it. (Quick diversion – If you ever buy a house, I highly recommend getting a home warranty. It pays for itself every year.) About 20 minutes ago, Jason and George from our local Rescue Rooter stopped by to take a look.
2 minutes, $55 and one screw-tightening later our shower was repaired.
The next time my father sees me he will dig through my purse, take away my Guy Card and then hit me over the head with a pair of pliers.
