What I Did....

on My Summer Vacation.

Yup. Another blog entry I don't have time to put up now...but will soon. After all, it's Furlough Friday in two days.

Furlough Friday and Food for Thought

If you've been in a cave somewhere, you might not realize that the State of California is in a bit of a budget crisis. At the CSU, we're doing our part by taking a furlough, though paycut is more fitting, as our pay has been cut 9.25%, but not our workload. Well, not in any foolproof way, anyway. Essentially, we take 9 days off per semester, but the students, committees, etc., have not been cut 9.25%. Go figure.

I've got my third furlough day coming up this Friday, and while it's stressful -- trying to fit five days of work into just four and still do a good job for my students and my colleagues -- I'm reminding myself that there are a lot of folks who don't have jobs at all. Or are likely to lose them very soon.

When I remember that, the stress level eases quite a bit...

It's Football Time in Tennessee!

Went to the UT vs UCLA football game the weekend before last -- in Knoxville! It was awesome...well, except for the loss to the Bruins.

Will post more soon. Need to get some z's at the moment so I can be up in time to earn some money tomorrow for taking trips to places like Neyland Stadium....

Do Unto Others...Please.

On Saturday, I went for a ride up to Millerton Store (with a little Woogie thrown in for good measure) by myself. On the way back down from Millerton Store, I saw a female cyclist I didn't know on the side of the road, and it was obvious she was feeling sick. I stopped to ask if she needed help, and she was indeed feeling really nauseous. After talking to her, I figured she was dehydrated, hadn't fueled enough, the heat was getting to her, or a combination of one or more of those. We tried to call someone to pick her up, but she couldn't get a hold of anyone right away. I rode back up to Millerton Store to get her some water and Gatorade, and then came back down and helped her get further down the road where she could rest in shade. She finally got a hold of her mom - who was in town visiting - and I waited with her until her mom got there. She was very gracious and thankful that I helped....but wouldn't most people? A lot of cyclists asked if we were ok as they passed, so I'm sure someone else would have helped, too.

But sometimes I wonder....this week at the Huggins Early Education Center where I am the new Interim Director, one of the teachers I now work with came to my office just to thank me for stopping by her room and offering to get her something when she looked like she needed something. She said that in all her years of teaching, no director had ever done that before. She looked like she needed something -- she was looking around while clearly needing to stay at the art table with the children -- so wouldn't someone else just standing there like me have done the same thing?...I hope so.

Today, I locked my keys in my car when I met Allegra for a bike ride. When we got back and I realized it, her husband drove me to my house to try to find an extra key -- which I couldn't find -- and brought me back to my car while I called AAA. I told him not to wait with me, as he had 12-year-old Jack in the car, and I felt bad they were waiting, so he left. And before I knew it, Allegra showed up to let me sit in the air-conditioned car while waiting. It took over an hour, so that was quite nice. Really, there are people who "Do Unto Others," and who pay it forward.

It's really such a little thing.

I'm Baaaack....

So, I've been gone for awhile...had an affair with Facebook that kept me away. The affair's not over, but I have realized that I'd like to try to make room in my life for some two-timing...Facebook AND blog. We'll see how it goes.

Since I'd developed a bit of a habit of doing little movie reviews, thought I'd ease back in with one, especially since I LOVED this movie! Ah, the joys of Netflix! I'm not much of a slapstick-humor lover, but this movie is HILARIOUS, and I even think I'll watch it again. And I don't watch a lot of movies more than once.

Ok, so I'm back....can't wait to tell Gary.

Whine Flu?

Ok, I haven't kissed any pigs lately, and I don't think I have the Swine Flu, but I have been sick with a very nasty cold that started coming on last Saturday night. I do feel grateful, however, that though I've been staying home from work, I can do work from home, since it's grading season in university-land.

But come on....get better already!!!

Dana Point Grand Prix

I was back at the races this past weekend -- the Dana Point Grand Prix, an exciting and scenic crit in the city streets of Dana Point, California, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. This was the third year the city held the race, but its first year on the National Racing Calendar, so VeloNews sent me down to report the action. As always, I didn't get a lot of snaps, but there was some major action, with a big crash in the women's race and heavy hitters like Floyd Landis (who lives just a few miles away in Murietta) in the men's race.

If you want to read all the details AND see professional snaps, you can go to my article here.

As for my amateur snaps, here's a few. This is the women's podium. Webcor Builders took the top two spots, with Australian Nikki Butterfield in the top spot and Canadian teammate, Gina Grain, in second. No Americans on the podium, as the third spot went to Kiwi Cath Cheatley. The gentleman in the picture is handing a construction helmet to Nikki with title sponsor Webcor Builders logo on it. She wore it for a few interviews -- "good-on" Cath for promoting those sponsors!
Winners received champagne, and Nikki immediately opened hers, inadvertantly (or not?!) aiming the cork at photogs. I got out of the way before the bubbles flew -- I forgot that my camera is water(champagne)proof.
There was a little left...
One of the photogs there for VeloNews was Mark Johnson, and he sent me this snap that he got of Gina Grain whenI interviewed her after the podium presentation. His pics aren't up yet on the VeloNews site, but will be added to the gallery soon, but check his business out -- IronString Writing and Photography.
The men's race was a few hours later, and this is their podium. Current national crit champ, Rahsaan Bahati from Rock Racing took the sprint win, followed by Southern California Velo's Jeremiah Wiscovitch. Jeremiah was on Rock Racing the last two years with Rahsaan, and told me after the race that it is exciting to get to race against him now instead of leading Bahati out. In third here is Colavita-Sutter Home's Sebastian Haedo who, like his big brother J.J. Haedo, is from Argentina.
It was a quick weekend, with just the one day of racing on Sunday. I went down Saturday night and met good high school friend, Sherry, and we had dinner with her sis-in-law, Lisa Lowe (formerly Johnson), who went to school with my big brothers. Had a ball telling 'ole high school stories and filling each other in on all we knew about former classmates. I stayed with Sherry and her husband, Tim, on their beautiful 2.5 acre property in Temecula that night. Though the race was fun, it was hard leaving the next morning, so I can't wait to get down there at a time when we can hang out more. And maybe even ride Sherry's horse a bit!

Definitely good times.