OK I admit that a 41 year old man finding a day of enjoyment skateboarding might sound strange but I find it centers me and provides a source of exercise that I can't find else ware. That said I spent the day working on my tuck, downhilling in a nearby neighborhood. I lost count of the number of times I went down the half mile hill my legs are feeling the hike back up (gotta earn those runs) so I'm gonna guess more than 20 times and I know I listened to at least 6 hours of music on my Ipod. I wasn't alone in my Sunday afternoon endeavor, there were another 7 folks from CT, RI and MA taking advantage of good weather and a clean road and we had an audience. Nearly 40 or 50 people including a Ct state trooper spent at least half hour watching us fly down the hill at speeds in the high 30's and low 40's. We carried on great conversations with the folks whose neighborhood we were enjoying....as the day wore on the State Trooper broke out his radar gun and started shooting speed checks on us at the bottom of the hill. I think the fastest anyone went was nearly 50mph but they were in a draft train (think NASCAR); the top solo speeds were in the mid 40's. I set a new personal best of 44.7mph which astounded the officer when I returned for my speed slip and he saw how old I was as I pulled off my full face helmet. It was funny how a bunch of 20 something to 40 somethings (I was not the oldest) impacted a neighborhood such a positive manner doing something that a few years ago would have had the same officer responding in a much less favorable manner.


vagabond-punk

The musings of Tony Peters, a perpetual child, no matter where I am I will find a way to climb something or go skateboarding Read more »

post pain pump

spending nearly a day on a Morphine pump was great but, it did little to prepare me for being out of the hospital or for that matter give me any idea just how much pain I was going to be in. Before I left the hospital my wife (who is a Nurse, the Pain Management Nurse at the hospital and I worked out this plan for the meds I was gonna need over this 1st week of my recovery...well that slowly disintegrated yesterday afternoon and by midnight I was in tears while my GSP sat with me licking my face...2 Go »

problems within problems

I read Daily Beast for mush of my news because I like the tone and because there aren't many conservatives left who don't deal exclusively in hate (Hannity Rush etc) I actually used to consider myself a conservative but I can't reconcile their embrace of ignorance nor their dismissal of a changing word. Anyway Meghan McCain wrote an interesting piece on the old guard's disregard for the internet Go »

Pain on a whole new level

good afternoon/evening folks something happened on the way to work this morning, I touched my brakes and either my tires were cold or I hit some sand, the next thing I knew I was on the ground with my bike on top of me. The end result is I broke my right ankle. It's swollen a bit today and likely needs surgery I have an ortho appointment on monday and hopefully surgery on tuesday. Go »

starwars up close

OK I have what is called closed angles in my eye's which although I have no symptoms is considered a precursor to glaucoma...I've known this for a couple of years and since my maternal grandfather had glaucoma and my father has the same problem with his eyes I've really just been putting off having corrective surgery since I returned from Japan 2 years ago. What this means is that the eye's drains which are behind the iris are not as open as they should be which can lead to increased fluid pressure in the eye and posible damage to the optic nerve, or so they tell me. Go »

got a new drug

2 weeks ago I sold my BMX cruiser with the intention of shedding a toy to buy a bike better suited to commuting to work, at one time I rode a racebike and i really wanted to start riding one again except with the simplicity that I enjoyed on my cruiser....so I bought a fixxed gear, no not going through a mid life crisis I have ridden a fixxed gear before and I know what's involved, it arrived last friday and after a scramble to assemble it (and switch the brakes to motostyle) I rode it to work, I have ridden to work every day for the last week (because it only rains on my day off) and my legs are just starting to adjust I have aches in places I haven't felt in years but I feel better and judging by the way my pants feel I'm sure I'm starting to look healthier too. No riding a fixie is not for everybody, I have people who give me terrified looks when they realize what I'm riding but it works for me and thats what is important, besides when the weather is nice I can leave after work and ride down to the beach and back on a 20 mile loop and still get home in time to make dinner for my wife and I. Go »

happy home maker

Ok before my furnace blew up I had been investing in food items for longterm storage and use. I got a deal on 1pound of vanila beans around new years as well as 2 gallons of peeled garlic last week. Anyway with water turned off in my house all day yesterday (furnace being replaced) I decided that it was a good time to do something about all the garlic and while I was at it make some xmas presents for next year (added bonus time spent in front of the stove means warmth). Go »