You Win Some, You Lose Some

Driving a 30 year old truck definitely has it's caveats. Like, you know, not starting once in a while. A couple weeks ago, it just wouldn't start. Battery...good. Starter solenoid...not good. Replaced that. Worked for a few days. Wouldn't start again. Well those solenoids tend not to be so good aftermarket. So under warranty I got another. This time it didn't fix the problem. Got a new starter. Nope. Wouldn't start. Eli and Isaac came to lend me a helping hand, and after much goofing around and a little bit of wrenching we found out that the old starter was the problem. But so was the new one. Yep, the new one was bad. And so were the battery cables. Got new cables. Got a new starter. Now it runs like a champ! That's a win.

I've trained a lot since my hip replacement. Lots of hours, lots of miles, good weather, bad weather, hot and cold. On paper ("the numbers") I'm as strong as I was 15 years ago. But on-paper isn't real life. In every race I've done so far this year, I have had some pretty impressive stats, but my placings haven't been what I've wanted. Here, Flannery Allison caught me going reasonably fast at Klaus Park, one of my favorite races. Looking quite old, and my placing was quite ordinary. 

ICC was the state championship mountain bike race that the Beautiful Mrs. K tirelessly put on with the help of our great team sponsors. And I wish that I could tell you that it was a good race for me. In fact, it was the worst race I've had in a long time. I was just "off" and that was that. Near the end of the XCO race, Eli waited up for me. We had about a 1/4 mile to go and he kept telling me to pass him. I couldn't do it. So he slowed up even more so we could cross the finish line together. It's a moment that I won't forget, ever. 

Another view, same moment. Although I was dejected, he was happy as usual just to be doing something he loves. Definitely a loss in my placing, but a win in a lot of other ways. Thanks to the Devo team parents for the photos and the season memories.

 

Rest in Peace, GD Number 3

 

I'm sure many among you are tired of hearing old heads say things like "They don't make them the way they used to." And I admit I used to get annoyed with my country mother and my "close the door, we are not air conditioning the entire neighborhood" dad. They always had some worn out old colloquialisms. But one that I (as a getting-older individual) have begun to use a lot and cringe every time I do:

They don't make them the way they used to.

Yep. That's my line now. It applies to so many things. TV's. Refrigerators. Furnaces. And definitely garbage disposals. 

My third disposal grenaded last night. Flipped the switch. Much noise. Then no noise. Poof. I can understand the first one, being a builder-quality unit when the house was built 20 years ago when we moved it. It lasted a few years. Sixty dollars later, I quickly learned how to install a new one, patted myself on the back, and moved on. That one lasted a few years. Same scenario. I think it was a couple bucks more. I know I installed this last one in 2022, I think. The replacement I bought today was $119. Inflation hits the old garbage disposal industry pretty hard, I'm guessing. 

Here is where you can stop reading if you don't want to hear echoes of your grandparents....I know my mom's garbage disposal lasted the entire time she owned the house I grew up in on West Bruno. Yep. 1968 until I sold her house in 2006. That thing looked like an industrial iron smelting pot under the sink and it made noise like one, too. Granted, mom probably used it like 5 times, preferring to suffer through cleaning things up the hardest way possible in her martyr style. But let's be realistic here. Almost 40 years versus an average of 5 or 6 years?

Seems to me like they don't make things like they used to.

Some Racin', Some Iced Coffee

 

It doesn't happen often enough, but I like to get together with Hanna for some morning coffee. We both work a lot but luckily it's not too early so we can catch one of the cool places in South City for some iced something or other. Speaking of which, it's time again. 

Although I'm a terrible photographer, I recently got a couple of photos and videos of Eli racing the Dirt Crit races in Valley Park. He's strong as a bull so naturally he gets into the lead straight away and strings out the field. He probably learned that from me. 

Speaking of me, I did a couple of Dirt Crits myself lately. I also found myself in the lead, but that didn't last long. In both races, I was practically spitting up blood to keep a top ten placing. I was really happy with my output, less happy with the results. But hey...the power is there, the drive is there. My reflexes and reaction time, not so much. 9th place one night, 10th place a week later. Rats.