Demoed the Project Mgmt System (NINJA PM) for the TOS tier one guys today. Mostly positive/ambivalent responses. Nobody tested it after the meeting even though we told them to.

Left work early due to a “headache,” ran by Big Red on the way home and picked up a 6 pack of the Single-Wide IPA by Boulevard Brewing out of Kansas City, Mo, and a Stone Sublimely (Something) Ale. The Single-Wide is a highly decent if mildly forgettable IPA, and I haven’t tried the Stone yet. Maybe I should find out what it’s actually called first. I’ll look into it.

Tried out the Shogun: Total War 2 demo after work just for funsies. I’ll say this for feudal Japan: Ninjas, and wiping a dude off the face of the map for frontin’ in your province. Those were the days.

Dinner out tonight because it’s fucking FAT TUESDAY and I’m trying to get fucking fat. Lennie’s was rocking Mardi Gras specials (Fiance had the Cajun Shrimp Fettuccine, I had the Steak and Andouille kebabs w/ red beans n’ rice, and we both had the bananas foster.

Suck it, Tuesday.

Put in another 13 on the bike today and shaved 3 minutes off my time from last week. It felt really good to be out there, doing something. For me, cycling has always been a strange dichotomy; on the one hand, no one in their right fucking mind would willingly pedal a foot cycle (or velocipede) around in 80 degree heat for an hour. On the other hand, I loves it. Now that I’ve broken the proverbial seal I can’t help it. 

Standard restrictions apply, of course. More than 3 miles in either 90s or 30s is a no-go (these days). But now I’m remembering how much fun a good torturous uphill slog can be, and it feels good. 

The next step is finding someone (or someones) to go mountain biking with in Brown County State Park at a reasonable time (7:00 AM on a Saturday or Sunday is NOT REASONABLE). 

Goddamn.

Temperatures in the high 80s and 90s for the next 10 days, on top of scattered thunderstorms. Guess I won’t be doing much riding. Or anything outdoors for that matter.

My phone is telling me 13.12 miles in just over an hour. I can remember when that route used to take me 45 minutes on a bad day. And back then I didn’t feel like I just got the shit beat out of me with a tire iron. Yeah.

Anyway, 13 miles in an hour with an average speed of 12.4 MPH isn’t bad for not having touched a bike in oh, eight months? Dusting doesn’t count. And yes my bikes were literally gathering dust in my apartment. This sweat tastes of shame.

Anyhow, here’s a short list of things to do:

*Find, dust, and re-attach one of my two (2) bike computers to my road bike
*Ditch the mini frame pump and just get a CO2 charger already. Jesus.
*Bib shorts? Maybe? (I hear they hide the paunch quite well)
*Does the saddle need to come forward, or is that just my imagination?
*GET A NEW SADDLE. Fuckin’ A.
*How hard would it be convert the seat tube bottle cage in to a taco cage? INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW.

How about that shit? Huh.

I’ve had this lone Gnaw Bone Pale Ale from the Oaken Barrel Brewing Company in the fridge for the better part of a year now, and I’ve been trying to forget about it for about that long, too. The rest of the six-pack was so vile I just couldn’t bring myself to finish it off. I’ve passed this beer up when I was so desperate for a drink that vodka and chocolate syrup sounded like a good idea; if that gives you any idea how really and truly shitty it is.

But I figured what the hell. Gotta start this thing off somehow, and a beer with Gnaw Bone in the title isn’t the worst way to kick it off. Besides, maybe it’ll taste better if I put it in a Guiness glass. 

Turns out no. It does not. 

At first, it tastes more like an IPA than a pale. The hops really jump out and smack you in the mouth, right before a sour oil slick kind of oozes its way down your throat. You’re left with a creeping, acrid taste/smell combination that just won’t fucking go away. 

Rrgh. Ok, long story short: this beer sucks as much now as it did a year ago. I need to finish this shit off before it gets any warmer.

Christ.

Hi, I figured it out. It’s at the bottom of the thing instead of the top. Thanks, bye.

…

Bye?

Is it really time to quit Facebook? When the NYT is running stories about the savage, minotaur-guarded maze that is FB’s privacy settings, maybe it’s time to take the paranoid doomsayers seriously.