Bling Bling

I proposed to Erica last night and she said YES! It's been a somewhat nerve-racking experience... just making sure that it was something she'd like, making sure that I proposed in a way that her and I would both be comfortable with and more than anything else, making sure she'd say yes. The latter ended up being the easiest part.

The process started the 5th of April when I took a trip home and headed into Thoma's too see if I could find a match to the sketch I had of a ring that she had previously tried on. Mr. Thoma said he'd take care of it and he most certainly did. So I went back once to make sure it would be to her liking and then picked it up just this Monday, proposed Tuesday night. It's hard to hold onto those things once you've got them.

So we were headed to dinner last night and I thought, carpe diem. So I wrote up a little note and put it on the passenger side of the car. I opened the door for her (which was entirely out of character) and by the time she turned around, I was already on one knee with a ring in my hand. It was strange how everything just slowed down. I didn't fumble with the ring at all and it was nearly a perfect fit. So we had a carefree night at Figlio and finished up with some ice cream at Jeni's.

I really wasn't sure how to tell everyone. I'm not one to draw attention to myself concerning such matters and thus decided that I would tell them in the manner that I usually communicate with them. I thought it was a good idea... my sister did not, seeing as though we usually text each other. Anyone that complains will get a phone call tonight. So there it is, my fiancé's hand with a ring on it. Now we just have to figure out what we're going to do. We had some coffee at Starbucks this morning and I was excited about both of us wanting the same things. I'm already looking forward to the day.

Dookie Boy

Sticky Steve got a new lens. A Lensbaby 2.0. I'm thoroughly enamored with it and want one. Two things however hold me back... its price and the fact that it's a novelty item. You can't shoot with it all the time. It would just become lame and you'd soon learn to hate it. Like trying to get drunk on Guinness.

I told this guy to find me one for "cheap". There would, of course, be a finder's fee. This is Al, of Dookie Boy fame. He's our Main Street ambassador. Anytime I'm at Envoi, he's sure to pop in at some point throughout the day. He lives down the street and spends the majority of his time in the area, so he's got a pretty good idea of the going's on. He's a comic, DJ, entrepreneur... a little bit of everything. He shoots video in the neighborhood and then throws it together on his computer and puts out a DVD every now and again called The Alcatone Show. It's really good stuff and I've always said he should be posting this stuff on myspace... or youtube... something, somewhere. He has really good footage of the riots, of which, some parts are included on his 1st and 2nd DVD's. So anyways, that's Al shot with a funky lens.

I'm beat today. What a weekend. I did have a good run this morning. Just one more tempo run tomorrow morning and we're all set. It'll be good to see everyone.

Roughin' It

An impromptu camping trip with some Indy/Cincy dudes took place at Hueston Woods near Oxford over the weekend. It was a good opportunity to get away. Erica had mounds of homework to get through and the warm weather had been pulling and tugging, tugging and pulling.

Got out of Columbus way too late on Friday, of course... but made the 110 mile trek in surprisingly good time and arrived at the site just before dark. Ate, drank and got to bed at 2 am. Time flies as they say. The floodgates opened around 4 in the morning and it came down pretty good for some time. We stayed dry but the worst part was having to piss and not wanting to run out in the middle of a rainstorm, but hardly being able to stand the sound of the deluge pouring over the tent. It finally let up, and I finally pissed and headed straight back to the warmth of the sleeping bag.

Woke up Saturday morning and ran the loop around the park with Elliott. Ended up being almost 9 miles altogether, but hilly as hell. It was a good run and the last long one before the mini. After that, I was ready to relax and have fun. We went mountain biking for the better part of the afternoon. It was a crazy beautiful afternoon and aside from a broken chain, good times were had and we even had enough time to play 9 holes on a great golf course before the sun had set. The rest of the night was spent around a campfire. Finally turned in and the cold weather allowed me to let the sleeping bag completely envelope me. I can't wait to get back.

But now it's Monday and I'm still on the run. I can't wait to get back to my bed tonight and throw down on some serious laundry. Well, I'm not looking forward to the laundry. I am looking forward to this weekend. Indy Mini time and I think I can actually say that I'm ready for it. New shoes... wicking undies, shirts, shorts and socks... carbo cubes... what else could I possibly need? Maybe good weather.

My Commute

The warm weather provides me with the opportunity to ride my bike to work... starting on Glenn in Grandview and ending at the Miranova Building downtown.

My ride starts in the intricate alley system of Grandview Heights. It reminds me of riding my bike where I grew up. I then make my way to 3rd Avenue which is offers a straight shot out of Grandview and to the river. At Olentangy River Road, I meet up with the bike path and follow it as it meanders south with 315 to the right and the Olentangy River to the left. The path continues over 33 and crosses over to the east side of the river just before the confluence of the Olentangy and Scioto Rivers. It opens up here and provides a nice view of downtown... and I'm almost positive that the background for Kirk Herbstreit commentaries on ESPN was shot from this general area. This is also where a lot of homeless camp. The ridge along the river as well as the lack of roads or buildings on the west shore give them ample cover. From there, I have a nice hill that takes me into some waterfront park where dodging geese can get tricky. Geese, for the record, are idiots. Any other animal will move quickly to get out of the way. Not a goose. They're the white trash of the bird kingdom. No matter if they've got the entire path covered, I'm still the one in the way... and they don't move. If they do, it's only to get more in the way... and then they hiss and spit... which is the equivalent of calling my mom dirty names and wanting to know if I've got a problem. So finally I hug the river into the final park which is right next to the Miranova. In the summer, I stop here to cool off and enjoy the breeze... and watch the bridge being built. It's pretty crazy how much work goes into a single bridge.

I would have to say I'm a lucky individual to be able to do this on a regular basis. I'd be far less sane if I couldn't.

Spring Air

Winter wasn't that bad, right? We're now completely immersed in spring. The temperature is even flirting with 80 at the moment. So the bike has once again taken its rightful place on the back porch. New shoes have been purchased and there must've been 5000 tulip bulbs buried in our yard. They're everywhere.

So are people. People on bikes, people running, people walking unruly dogs, people in 4000 lbs of steel getting pissed because they think their car as well as the a-hole in it has some greater right to the road . There are A LOT of driving instructors not instructing. I hate people in cars, but kudos to the big auto companies... they've made us all think that we can't live without the automobile. And in the hot topic of gas, no one seems to think that a company who has mass-produced a machine that uses a non-renewable resource and has done so with fervor in the name of a larger profit margin shouldn't be held accountable. It's because we love them for what they've given us... the idea of personal freedom... and shame on anyone for getting in our way. We'll kill each other yet... then there'll be no one around to enjoy all those tulips.

Again, More Bored

This here's the final stand. I don't know why they saved the elevator shaft for the end. Maybe all demolition specialists maintain this standard... maybe not. It's kind of amazing to watch something like this come down. So many wires and soooo much rebar... and concrete. There was a lot of that, too.

Erica inquired whether they were tearing it down so they could build a bigger and better parking garage. She had a bird's eye view from the 32nd floor of the LaVeque Tower which is just off the left side of this shot. Big old gothic thing.

I'm Bored

I'm bored and at somewhat of a standstill with work, so I'll talk about kitchens. I know I'm not the first to say that the kitchen is the heart of a house. If you break down our basic necessities, we really only need food, water and shelter. A kitchen provides you with all three. I'm leery of families that don't naturally congregate to the kitchen. It makes me feel like they're hiding things from each other. It's gives me a general feeling of distrust.

This was last night. I ran in the morning and didn't have to pick Erica up from school until 8:15, so I laid everything out all nice & neat like so that once we got home, we could immediately start dinner. It's like those cooking shows where it's all laid out for them. It makes me think that I might like cooking too if all the preparation was taken care of and I didn't have to wash any dishes. Lazy ass cooking show hosts.

But the sun was setting on another surprisingly beautiful day in central Ohio and standing there gave me a warm fuzzy feeling all over... so I took a picture. It reminded me of my kitchen at the Stratford. It too had a window and door that faced west and in the rare occurrence that it was clean, the same sun would fill the room with a warm glow. And if anyone wondered, spaghetti was the dish. A personal favorite.

Worthless

Today, while walking to work, I caught site of a behemoth street vacuuming but not really vacuuming cart appartus. I could go on and on about these damn things. I can't stand them. I hate that it makes the city that employs them as well as operators at the wheel look lazy, stupid and wasteful. Do yourself a favor the next time you see one downtown... follow it. Follow it and see just how much trash they don't pick up. Follow it to see the process involved with picking up a cigarette butt. Mind blowing.

I happened to follow this waste of space on the left for about seven blocks. I was rewarded when it met up with a fellow waste of space on the right... and even more rewarded that the demolition of a parking garage was taking place across the street. I probably could've taken their pictures outright, but felt better about faking them out.

What bothers me the most are those that must've felt like this was such a good idea or the people working for the city are cool with running through the gas and oil required to keep these running... so long as it keeps the street sweepers off their asses right? Maybe I'm wrong, but they're not giving me much of a reason to think otherwise. Not only that, but what does one of these things cost? I can't imagine they're all that cheap. Even when morals skipped town in the U.S. long ago, you would've thought common sense would've hung in there... put up the good fight. Not so friends. This is just a fraction of the proof.

Coffee Shoppin'

This is a Monday morning ritual... coffee at the Starbucks downtown. Erica and I hop on the 7:56 and arrive down at Broad and High around 8:30, grab two cups, a couple of chairs and settle in for the next 25 minutes. It's a good opportunity to get the day started without being immediately thrown into it. 

My only problem with it is that, of course, it's a Starbucks... but when mom & pop aren't within walking distance and the building Erica works in is accessible without going outside, it makes it a tough locale to pass on... especially in the winter when the wind at that intersection tends to whip more than in most places. Plus, I'm old and tired of putting up a useless fight. It's just too bad that it's Starbucks, Einstein Bagels or Potbelly's... which the thought of the latter serving coffee is about as appealing as a solid week of their sandwiches. People don't think it's a big deal, but one day, that's all that'll be left. That's the way these places want it. Their insatiable appetite to sell coffee not just to you but to everyone, has driven out those that might've been cool with selling cups at a reasonable price to friends and friends of friends. And some might make the argument that everyone is in business so as to drive the competitors out of business, but I don't think that's true. I think there are a lot people in business that are content with providing a great product at an honest price. And then there are those that are only interested in the amount of product they can sell.

And this is usually why 25 minutes is the perfect amount of time. As nice as the conversation may start, I usually regress to complaining about something and Erica apparently doesn't want to hear it in the mornings. But by that time, we're both ready to worry about other things.

Hardly Workin'

This is my dad, TNT, up in the ceiling of the garage of my parent's house on Saturday night. Over some time, and apparently unnoticed, a very large section of the ceiling began to separate from the joists in the garage, pulling other sections off their joists along with it. 

Luckily, I was heading home this past weekend and my dad and I were up until 1 am tearing down very heavy drywall... all the while balancing on ladders. It was hard work and I was thoroughly beat by the end of it. And then we woke up the following morning at 6, went to church, breakfast and then played a round of golf with his friend, Don. It was a beautiful day, sunrise to sunset. 

Erica drove in from Columbus for dinner... my mom's chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes. It was a belated birthday gift. I don't care if I'm 45 and have 20 kids, I'll still look forward to my birthday dinner... and I can't say it would ever be anything other than the chicken and noodles. So it was a good weekend spent in Piqua. Not exactly restful, but when we get a stretch of days like we're having, it's hard to justify laying around. The run around the bike loop was worth it as well. Not sure how I did, but it was a nice, steady relaxing run. I wish I had the time to run it more often. I wish I had the time to do a lot of things more often.

Not Much Happenin'

I haven't taken any pictures lately which was kind of the self-imposed stipulation I've put on myself concerning this blog. It's not that I haven't had anything to talk about, but I just haven't had the imagery to go along with it.

The race Sunday went better than expected. The weather was overcast and cool. Perfect. The route wasn't as bad as what I thought it was going to be... although running that little offshoot up Torrence sucked bad. I think there could be a more reasonable alternative to accomplishing a 15K route. Final number was 1:09:35. Friends and family were there to see us finish which always makes the experience that much better. I was hoping Erica would be more excited about taking pictures of my sister and I making our way down the stretch... but... uhhh... that never happened. And just for that, she gets her mug pasted up there instead. I had to scan some sketches in for a logo and decided that while I was at it, I'd scan one of my favorite pictures of her in, which just so happens to be over some sketches that I'd recently done of her... oh, how weird.

There were also a couple of birthday celebrations over the weekend that didn't seem to warrant a single photo. My sister-in-law, Leslie turned 30. Erica's dad turned 60. It was quite the weekend. This week has sucked. I've worn my raincoat to work three days this week. And one of these days, I'm going to just start taking pictures of the people I encounter. For instance, a man, young woman and her 2-year old son got on the bus yesterday and were cussing like it was their native language. The bus driver pulled the bus over and asked them not to curse. Offended, the young woman got her son to sing the lyrics to a song that contained such expletives as "motherf***er", "s**t" and some others that a young child might still have trouble pronouncing... because as she said over and over, "It's my kid." Indeed it was.