Jorge's Wild Ride

Last week, Jorge (a.k.a. The Colombian) came by my office to talk me into a ride. He's part of a team doing the 24 Hours of Great Glen race (a race I really want to do sometime) and he wanted to do a long-ish ride on 'cross bikes. The goal - avoid asphalt as much as possible, seek new routes, to go where no Columbian has gone before. ;-)

We got a late start due to pouring rain at 7am. This ensured the trails would be extra muddy and slippery. Even more fun. It also meant the streams were higher than normal. Hence, our water crossing.


After our first stream crossing, we have the following conversation:

Jorge: "You know, Teri, at some point we're going to have to cross the Concord River."
Me: "Uh huh. Should we look at the map and figure it out?"
Jorge: "No! We'll just ride and if we hit it, we'll swim."
Me: "I can't swim. And, besides, what about the bikes?"
Jorge: "They'll float. Upside down."
Me: "I'm not swimming! And I'm not putting the Tsunami in the river!"

I wasn't quite sure I convinced him, however, and feared that in our meandering we would hit the river and I'd be dog paddling.

Shortly after this conversation, Jorge somehow managed to ride over a hornets' nest. Ooops. His head was engulfed in a cloud of the meanies. Watching him pick up the pace, swat as his head as he rode and not biff it on the trail was pretty amusing. I had a good laugh but paid for it when I was stung in the butt (they didn't sting him, just me. Nice.)

Despite my griping, I really enjoyed the ride. Even the wading across the pond. We stopped in Concord for coffee and croissants (thanks, Jorge!). I'm still waiting for my shoes to dry, though.

Bird Update

After surviving numerous downpours, gusty winds and a cat that was intent on eating them as soon as they were fat enough, the baby robins have flown the coop. While I'm happy they're now off on their own, I actually miss them. So does Gracie. Her entertainment outside the living room window is now gone.

Passport Stamp Quest By Bike

Saturday, I went out for a ride with S and PFFC. And I STILL cannot get those guys to branch out. They will insist that we did change up the ride a bit but somehow adding 1 mile of new road in a 42 mile ride doesn't count in my world. I didn't press the issue since I new I'd be going out on ride the next day that could become epic given I'd be following the Crazy Columbian (and it did - more on that in another post).

We went out past Hanscom, through Concord, up Strawberry Hill (with a little diversion - those guys started shaking once we went off route and quickly scurried back to the tried and true waypoints that are permanently etched in their brain. I'm kidding, guys. Kind of.)

Anyway, we stopped at the "Pee Pavilion" (a.k.a. Great Brook Farm) for what Phil Ligget would call a "natural break". Given that I was dehydrated and not drinking enough, I roamed through the picnic pavilion while S and PFFC went to use the facilities. I saw the above poster for the Massachusetts DCR Passport Program. How cool! What a great idea for kids! It's part of the "No Child Left Inside" program. Kids can go to each park with their passport, find the stamp box, open it with the secret code in the passport and then stamp it on the appropriate page. When they accumulate the stamps for a region, they can then get a pretty darn cool t-shirt.

And then, thought about it some more, realized I'm a 46 year old kid, and damn, I'm going to get a passport and ride my bike to or in as many of Massachusetts State Parks (76) that I can and collect the stamps. A ranger was nice enough to give us passports right there and then. She was so surprised that adults were into it that she took our pictures for their site. Really psyched to start collecting some!

Storm Update

First, a bird update. The little guys survived the storm yesterday. Their nest is still intact and the parents seem busy fetching more wigglers for food. Hopefully, they'll reinforce the nest and everyone will dry out in today's sunshine. Thanks to all who offered words of advice on how to help them out. We're now all ready to construct a temporary nest for them if it comes to that.

I didn't get to ride last night. Probably should have taken Cathy up on her offer and done an epic ride on the trails in a downpour but a small part of me was worried about branches falling on my head (especially after hearing about the damage suffered in parts of NH from the storm). The sun finally broke out this morning and it seemed appropriate to take out the Tsunami. Lots of debris on the trails all through Lexington, Concord and Bedford. Made for some good 'cross practice.

Stormy Day

The forecast for today is severe thunderstorms and heavy downpours. Already this morning, I'd guess we've had over two inches of rain. It also most likely means that my mtb ride with the girls won't be happening this evening. Grrrr....

But the worst thing, we have a robin's nest in the tree outside our living room windows. I believe there are three babies in it. Mom's been doing a remarkable job keeping them all safe and dry. She sort of sits on top of them, puffs out her feathers and acts as an umbrella for them. Unfortunately, the rain is starting to cause the nest to disintegrate. And we're watching this whole thing, freaking out and trying to figure out what to do. We've even called the Audobon Society to see if they have any helpful info. May just have to climb out the upstairs window and figure out how to secure one of my old shells in the tree to protect them a bit.

From First To Last (a.k.a. It's Mo' Betta To Win)

~sigh. I knew going in it wouldn't be pretty. And you know, it's true what they say about visualization, believing in yourself, and training your head. If you go in with no expectations, you'll pretty much come out with nothing to show for it.

I told myself, "You haven't trained. You're not fast. You haven't raced enough this season. You're packing on 8+ extra pounds. But you are better technically." And guess what, I rode up those hills like I was towing a BOB trailer full of fat, 100lb, negative-thought gremlins. It's amazing I stayed upright on those hills given how slowly I was going. But damn, I was smooth on those downhills - tell yourself you can float down the nasty stuff Mount Snow throws at you, and you can.

I was in San Francisco the days before Nats. I was supposed to catch a 2:30pm flight at SFO to connect in Denver and get home around 1am Thursday morning. Around noon I discovered my flight was delayed, which meant a missed connection in Denver and a red-eye to make it home. I went through security and into the Red Carpet Club (one of the best presents S ever gave me) and explained my situation to the woman behind the counter. "I'll even take a red-eye from SFO to Boston! Any where on the east coast! I just have to get home!" Behind the counter, the woman is typing away, almost feels like she's IM'ing her friend, "We have a desperate one here! How much should we screw with her?!?!" Instead, she says to me, "I'm not supposed to do this but I put you on a direct flight to Boston. But it leaves in 30min so you better get to the gate!" Sweet! This meant I'd get in around 9:30pm. Yay!

We arrived at Mount Snow late afternoon on Thursday. Checked into the hotel, changed and went out for a pre-ride on the newly changed course. What a difference from last year's pre-ride in the dumping rain! The surface for the most part was dry, dusty, and loose. The first section (north loop) had been changed so there was no cut-through in the woods on single-track. This meant we had to climb a bit higher and the descent was on a service road. Not technical, kind of boring, a few drainage ditches to keep an eye on but otherwise a piece of cake.

Then the long climb to start the south loop. And it just seemed like it never ended. Instead of the hike-a-bike section in the woods, they routed us up a STEEP service road. Ouch. Then into some switchbacks in woods (yay, shade), then back on service roads, up, up, up. At a couple of the climbing sections there were 90 degree turns. You'd think you had reached the top, turn, and look up to more climbing. Finally, some downhill. Some of it was different from last year. In particular, the nasty stairs sections was gone. All in all, it felt very rideable. There was one section that caused me to pause, get off and watch some riders go by. Soon, I saw Libby zipping by me. Figured that was the line to take and tried to imitate her. I managed to get down but just not as fast. I think my extra 30 or so years on her make me a bit more cautious. ;-)

Throughout my pre-ride, my chain was skipping all over the cassette again. Unfortunately, the Shimano guys were gone by the time I made it back down so I did manage to get it fixed a couple of hours before my race on Friday (bent derailleur hanger. No idea how I did it.)

Lined up at the start with 10 other women, only one I recognized from local races. At the line, I was making my usual squint-into-the sun face that the announcer mistook for a smile. "Look at 804 folks! She's smiling! She won't be smiling soon, though, on that first leg burner granny-gear hill." No joke. I had an awesome start at the whistle and led the field up the first hill. That was the last time I saw first place. One by one, 6 women passed me on that first hill. I was determined not to get off and push. I'm still wondering about that strategy. One of my goals was to ride the whole race - no wussy girl pushing the bike up the hill or walking down the tricky downhill sections.

So I did manage to ride the entire first lap. The uphills were painful - just sat there, spinning the pedals and going about 4 mph. How lame. But the downhills - I flew (for me). Weighting and unweighting the bike, concentrating on picking a line that wouldn't kill me, so wrapped up in the trail I almost forgot I was racing. I love that zen feeling. At one point, I was congratulating myself on riding a particularily nasty section of trail that had me walking on the pre-ride, and managed to plant my front wheel. Uh oh. Here goes. Spectacular endo in the making. But somehow, I balanced on that front wheel, felt the rear of the bike swing around, I kicked it back with my left, unclipped foot, and shifted my weight back to get the rear wheel down. OMG! No endo! A proud moment despite being caused by my carelessness. Even the marshall was expecting carnage, "Nice recovery there!"

At the end of the first lap, I passed one woman. I was soon passed back on the first uphill of the second lap. Then passed by another. And one more. That last one we traded places back and forth for most of the second lap but she finally put down the hammer on the last long uphill and I never could catch her again. As she cruised up the hill, I gave up. (Meh - I hate admitting that.) I was hot, on the service road, sun beating down, pedaling hard, going about 3 mph now and not making up any ground on her. I got off and pushed. Wretched. Just wretched. :(

So I'm trying to take away some good from the race. I finished DFL. Ok, well maybe not last but the only woman behind me was a DNF. It's clear that I'm able to ride stuff that scared the shorts off me last year. That's a plus. The minus is I'm clearly in worse shape than I was last year. I hate that. It's also clear that I need to figure out a way to train better given my travel schedule if I'm hoping to do better at 'cross this season. But the real goodness: I'm still riding my bike. S couldn't compete this year, much to her frustration since they cut the beginners to only one lap. I remind myself of that and am thankful. Similarly, I saw pics of Sue Haywood being carried off after fracturing her leg and again, am happy I didn't bite it on the course.

Bottom line: I enjoyed myself but both S and I decided that it's mo' betta to win. ;-)

And speaking of winning, Mike took third the next day in his expert division. Scott took 4th in his division and Libby gets another stars and stripes jersey. NEBC Happiness! And, my MTB idol, Mary outsprinted Georgia the Luna Chick at the line to win the Pro women's race. Smokin' hot! Hoping she can get gold in Beijing in August.

Electra StreetRod For Sale

I'm cleaning out the basement and have a bike that's not getting enough love any longer. It used to be my commuter when I lived in Seattle. Now, it's my latte/Redbones/farmer's market cruiser. Shimano Nexus 7 spd internal hub, Nexus roller brakes (awesome in Seattle's rainy weather). I can't remember the size (I think 18") which is big for me (I'm 5'4"). It's yours for $200. More pics can be found here.

More specs below.
Frame & Fork
Frame Construction TIG-welded
Frame Tubing Material 4130 chromoly
Fork Brand & Model Electra D-Blade
Fork Material 4130 chromoly, unicrown crown
Rear Shock Not applicable

Components
Component Group Shimano Nexus
Brakeset Shimano Nexus Roller brake brakes, Tektro RBP-363AP levers
Shift Levers Shimano Inter-7 ST-7S20
Front Derailleur Not applicable
Rear Derailleur Not applicable
Crankset Cyclone CPI 9-100A, 42 teeth
Bottom Bracket Shimano BB-CT91
BB Shell Width 68mm English
Rear Cogs 7-speed internal, 22 teeth
Chain 1/2 x 1/8"
Seatpost Kalloy aluminum, 26.8 mm diameter
Saddle Electra
Handlebar Arc aluminum
Handlebar Extensions Not applicable
Handlebar Stem Rito ML-80 aluminum
Headset 1" steel

Wheels
Hubs Shimano Nexus Roller brake
Rims Electra TA-5 aluminum, 36-hole
Tires 26 x 1.90" Electra Street Racer whitewall
Spoke Brand Stainless steel, 2.0mm straight gauge
Spoke Nipples Brass nipples

Always At The Last Minute

Last week I had to bail midride on my trail ride with the girls due to my bike shifting like crap. Put on a new cassette, rode it Sunday and all seemed well. During my pre-ride yesterday, the bike started its horrific ghost shifting again. Climbing Mt. Snow with the chain skipping all over isn't any fun and at points, somewhat dangerous.

So off to the Shimano booth. Turns out my dérailleur hanger was not so nicely bent. Those guys were super terrific. The bike seems to be shifting perfectly now. We'll find out for sure in about two hours.

Amos

So imagine this......you get on a BOS -> LAX morning flight, hit LA a little bit past lunch time, and then get on another 6 hour flight to Lihue. By the time you land in Kauai, you've been traveling about 17 hours (if you include drive to airport, security, etc), and it's late afternoon in Hawaii. You get off the plane, somewhat dishelved depite flying first class, head to the outdoor baggage claim where it's warm, humid, you can feel a line of sweat dripping down your lower back and a screaming child is parked near your spot at the carousel. Finally, you get your bags, get the convertible rental car, put down the top, roll down the windows and enjoy the sea breeze. Now, only thing left to do is call that 808 phone number, talk to some guy named Bryce and get the keys to the cottage that cost more for 5 days than your monthly salary for your first job out of college.

Bryce actually does exist, answers the phone and says drive north to mile marker #23. There will be a gas station on your right. Look for the black SUV. And so you do, for 45 min, through the Aloha Friday rush hour traffic on the only main road on the island. Finally, you see mile marker #22, then #23, then the gas station and wow, there really is a black SUV there. Bryce gets out, introductions all around, says follow me and hands you a CD to throw into the dashboard player. It says, "Amos Lee" on it. Hmmmm....who's that? Oh well, no worries, throw it in there and give it a listen. Starts off with Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight. With that soundtrack, you drive through a neighborhood toward the Kilauea Lighthouse, then through private gates down a long drive, to a very private cottage on a cliff overlooking the Pacific and Secret Beach on Kauai.

That was my introdution to Amos Lee. Just hearing his music brings me back there, to what has to be one of the most incredible places I've ever stayed on vacation. For my birthday, besides the toaster-to-die-for, S surprised me with two tickets to see Amos at the Somerville Theater. (Right around my birthday, I saw a blurb in the paper that he was in town. I tried to get tickets but they were all sold out. Good thing given S had bought two tix weeks earlier.) I knew the seats were good but both of us were surprised to find ourselves sitting front row center (who knew row B would be front row?). Lucy Wainright Roche (yeah, Rufus' sister) kicked it off with a fun, acoustic mellow set. Then Amos with his bass player, keyboard guy and drummer brought me back to that first warm Kauai evening. Fantastic concert - one of the best I've been to. I love my birthday. :)

Vet Visit

The twins went to the vet yesterday. George thought that Dr. Parker wouldn't notice him if he tried to pass an an object of art on the shelf. Later, he attempted the "Ostrich Strategy" and hid his head behind the tissue box up there.

Game On!

I have every reason to stay away from Mt. Snow. Training hasn't been where I want it, I'm not feeling in kick ass shape (but I can do more push ups than I ever could before(43)! Unfortunately, that doesn't translate to better mtbiking), and I have meetings in San Francisco Monday through Wednesday before my race on Friday. So jetlagged, not in top form, and still intimidated from last year's epic adventure at Mt. Snow Nats where I was crying, "Mommy!" on all the downhill sections, I'm pulling on my big girl panties and I'm going for it. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't. Can't wait. And now I have 11 days to suffer through my freak out phase.

The Mud That Ate My Brake Pads!!!

New pads on left, what's left of the old ones on right

After last week's race at Moody Park, I cleaned up my bike and put it in its reserved spot in the garage (safely in front of the MINI so I can admire it every time I drive in). :) Then, this Thursday I decided to take it out for a ride and as I rode down the driveway, I hit the brakes and the bike kept going. I looked like Bugs Bunny as my brakes made this incredible screeching noise and I tried to drag my heels to slow down before I shot out onto Mass Ave in front of the killer T bus. I took a look at my rotors and pads and wow, absolutely no pads left. On either brake. Now I know why I couldn't stop on those downhills at Moody Park during the last lap. That mud was powerful stuff - it not only ate my pedicure but it disintegrated my brake pads.

Zebra or Giraffe?

It's a genetic weakness. I love shoes. Saw these and I couldn't decide so I got both.

Cupcake Madness

I'm not sure why, but I really love cupcakes. I don't eat them very often but on my birthday, I set no limits. Mmmmmm....a chilled glass of champagne, and chocolate cupcake and I'm very happy. This year, S's family is visiting from Seattle so I had had a lots of help with the decorating.


I didn't get to ride my 46 miles early in the morning (one mile for every year - thank God I'm not a runner any more) but did 23 miles on dirt instead. I'm not sure dirt is twice as hard riding as asphalt but given the constraints, it was the best I could do. Besides, I rode the miles on my birthday present from last year, The Tsunami. I haven't ridden that baby since 'cross season and forgot just how sweet it is. Two strange wildlife sightings on the ride, one snake and one beaver. Almost as crazy as the giant snapping turtle (no joke, the size of a garbage can lid) I saw a few days ago on the road near the swamps by Hanscom. Fun stuff.

Next Gen Endo Queen

Like aunt, like niece? I thought I was the reigning Endo Queen! Looks like it's time to pass the tiara to my niece. While riding home from swim practice, she locked up the brakes to avoid a chipmunk with a death wish. One broken wrist, one helmet split in half and loss of lots of skin off both knees and a shoulder. I think it may have been better to grant the little guy his wish. ;-)

Attitude

Hauling a fully mud coated mtb through a two foot deep crater of peanut butter mud, slipping and falling into a tree: one skinned forearm. Riding downhill on muddy trail with tires that refuse to shed mud and sliding into a tree: one bruised hip and shoulder. Slipping on snotty mud in the hike-a-bike section and slamming pedal into shin: one huge purple welt. Plunging down a super steep, slick gravel covered hill (a.k.a. The Gravity Cavity) and hitting the sandy bridge at the bottom at 30 mph, not once but three times, unscathed(!): priceless.

All week I had been debating whether to race at Mt. Snow (good preview and practice for Nationals), go to Moody Park (less technical, less chance of getting all bruised and battered), or simply not race the weekend. The latter really wasn't a choice. I needed to get out there especially after missing last weekend at Putney. The forecast called for scattered showers which meant a decent possibility that conditions at Mt. Snow would be treacherous. I've already seen Mt. Snow in those conditions. It's not pretty. I didn't want to push my luck.

So plan B, Moody Park. I'd heard the course was fast, not very technical and very fun. Sounded like a perfect confidence builder and made more sense than beating the living daylights out of my ego and my body at Mt. Snow. Plus, the race started at 10am instead of 2pm. Done deal. Little did I know that torrential downpours Saturday night and Sunday morning actually made it more of an epic mud fest but I'm getting ahead of myself.

On the road by 6am, I drove north under a low ceiling of grey skies and fog. Ninety minutes later I exited the highway almost on the NH/VT border and the skies opened up. Thunder, lightning, and rain so hard the wipers on high couldn't clear the windshield fast enough. By the time I reached the race site, the rain had stopped but the skies still looked threatening. Decided I'd at least go out and pre-ride a lap just in case the storms started up again and they cancelled the race. Didn't want to have driven all that way for nothing.

I could see how the course could be described as fast and fun. When dry. And it was anything but. The first 1/4 mile was fast, relatively dry double track. Good passing opportunities. Then there was a muddy, rocky, wet root covered uphill grind. Momentum was definitely your friend through this section since if you had to touch down, getting started was difficult at best and in some spots downright impossible. Next there was a twisty, flowy downhill but the ride was broken up by sections of impossible to ride mud holes. Next, another uphill section (dry-ish), that soon flattened out to another fast double track section leading up to the Gravity Cavity (which I never successfully rode up the other side). Next, across the road and into another uphill mud fest that they tried to make easier by putting some wooden pallets out there. I think it only made it worse. Then a muddy, twisty downhill again broken up with sections of unridable areas filled with a mixture of rocks, roots, and more thick, nasty mud. Finally, the downhill would dump you out on the finish line. Whew.

By the time my race went off at 10:30, the sun was attempting to burn through the clouds. I started thinking perhaps we'd luck out and things would dry out a bit. I didn't quite get the effect I was hoping for. The thin runny muddy did indeed start to dry but that just meant that by my third lap, the mud was the consistency of peanut butter.

At the gun, I punched it since I figured I didn't want to be stuck behind the pack on the muddy, uphill grind. I was third into the woods and passed one woman in the first mud bog. Hit the uphill in second and toward the top of the hill was passed by another woman. And that's how it stayed pretty much for the rest of the race. I tried to catch the woman who passed me (thought she was in my age group but turns out she wasn't). By the second lap, I was starting to get tired. Hauling my bike through some of those muddy sections just wasn't fun and in fact, I think the bike weighed an extra 10 lbs due to the layer of mud/leaves/crap clinging to it.

And then it happened: at the start of the third lap, I had about reached my limit. I'm standing up to my knees in mud, trying to step forward and drag my bike (more like a boat anchor) through that energy sucking quicksand when I had a mental meltdown. @#$%^&*( piece of &^%^$#! *&^&^%%$$!!!!! %^&^*&((!!! I lost my grip on the bike, it tipped over to the right, I slid to the left and found myself sitting in that 2ft deep mud. And I just stopped for a few seconds. I sat there. I looked around. No one. And then I just started laughing. Crazy woman sitting in the mud laughing. Wiped my hands, shook it off, reminded myself that the real reason I do this is to have fun. And really, when else do you have a reason to go roll around in the mud, get filthy. I hopped back on and rode better than I rode all day. Attitude change. Instead of fighting the trail, getting angry, feeling frustrated, I threw myself into it. There was still an intensity there but it was more like, "OMG! I want to ride this better/faster/smoother! I own you!" Ditched that downward spiral of bad brain chatter. Only drawback: smiling while riding leads to more mud in teeth. ;-) Finished 1st in the Sport Masters Woman division which earned me a nice jug of NH maple syrup. Can you say more waffles! :)

Afterwards, there was no bike wash. I cleaned up best I could which really isn't saying much. The bike went on the car still coated with goop - chunks of which flew off at highway speeds. It also elicited lots of comments at Dunkin' Donuts in Warner where I stopped to load up on ice coffee and gas. Seems like everyone wanted to know what it was like to go play in the mud. Wicked fun. Only one serious drawback. I noticed later that the damn mud sucked the nail polish right off my toes. There goes my pedicure. Grrrrr....

Let's Not Go There

Since I couldn't race this weekend, I drove the MINI (top down, baby!) to CT to visit my parents. I missed Father's Day the previous weekend since I was flying back from SF. Got to give my dad his present (which is also a present for me) - two seats behind home plate in Yankee Stadium for a late August game. We'll get one last trip down there before they tear it down at the end of the season.

But anyway, while there our discussion turned to politics. My parents are staunch republicans so we don't really see eye-to-eye which makes for some interesting (to say the least) dinner conversations. But we kept it civil, no one jumped up from the table crying and I didn't resort to drinking straight from the wine bottle. Interestingly enough, given how bad a job W has done, I think that had Hillary won the nomination my dad would be voting for her in November. That's saying a lot since he was pretty vehemently against her when she ran for the NY senate seat. But neither of my parents is a Barack fan. Can't say they like McCain either. I'm in the same boat. Barack annoys me - reminds me of all those frat boys I dealt with at Brown who always seemed to exude this attitude of arrogance mingled with entitlement. But at least I believe in what he says he'll try to accomplish.

I'm still wishing my girl Hillary was still in it. I think I'm still smarting from the realization that it still is widely accepted in this country to be sexist. Seeing those guys at one of the NH primary rallies waving signs that said, "Iron my shirts!" and hearing the news commentators chuckle about it really drove that point home. Imagine it had been a Obama rally and the signs read, "Shine my shoes!" I don't think the news guys would have been chuckling and the guys with the signs would have probably never been shown on TV or perhaps even allowed at the rally.

Shortly after I returned home, I received a link to this video. I'm thinking about forwarding it to my parents - a return volley for the liberal bashing email they usually send me (all in good fun).

Gadget Girl Falls For A Toaster

I know, I know.....you're probably thinking, how could she possibly write about a toaster? Be happy - I could be writing a post about my recent bout with norovirus. I'll save you all the incredibly nasty details of my 24 hours of living in the bathroom. But let's just say the engineer in me was trying to solve the age old problem of how to get explosive stuff simultaneously emanating from opposite ends in the toilet. Enough...I don't want to relive that again. Plus, it ruined my race plans for the weekend which puts me in a doubly foul mood.

But the toaster! OMG! I love bread and I love gadgets and now I'm in love with my early birthday present that combines both. With the kitchen remodel pretty much done, we're replacing some of the small appliances. S gave me my birthday present last week (I think she felt sorry for me and besides, since the only thing I could eat was toast, it was put to good use.) A Breville Smart Toaster.

I just love the UI on this thing. Simple, easy to use, intelligent, and gives me the same kind of happiness that using my iPhone does. It's sort of like what I think my the experience designer on my most recently cancelled project (yes, I should get over it by now but I'm still somewhat bitter about it) would have come up with. In fact, I want all the UI's for the products I work on from now on to reflect the same simplicity, power and usability that this damn toaster does.

It has 5 buttons, a slider and a progress bar(!) The buttons for Bagel and Defrost are useful but no big whoop. But the "A Bit More" and "Lift and Look" are genius - just want I want. The "A Bit More" button does what you'd expect - after your toast is done, hit that button and the bread automatically lowers for additional toasting time (not a whole additional cycle, just a bit more). The "Lift and Look" button raises the bread while toasting, doesn't cancel or reset the cycle and allows you to see how things are progressing and cancel the toasting cycle if it's done. And my favorite is the LED panel under the slider (which controls the browning level). It counts down the time remaining in the cycle. A toaster with a progress bar. How cool is that? And it beeps when it's done.

And, oh yeah, it does its basic function (toasts) very well, too. I'm baking another loaf tonight so I have more delicious toaster material. :)

Not To Be Out Done.....

My cycling buddy, PFFC, sent me an email last night saying, "I'm doing this!" So now I know that when we go for our weekend rides and stop for a coffee roll and large iced at Dunkin, she's going to be dropping and giving me 100. :) Of course, I can't let her kick my butt so now I have to do the program too. Did a quick test this morning without actually going until exhaustion and managed 25. Meh. Decent for a 45 (almost 46) year old woman but 100 would be so much cooler.

Now someone needs to do a similar program for pull ups because I'm really lame at those.

Science Experiment In The Office

I apologize if I'm grossing anyone out but when I walked into my office this morning after 10 days away I was simultaneoulsy revolted and amazed by what had grown in my coffee mug in my absence. And I drink my coffee black so that's even freakier (seems like the milk/cream and sugar would give it more nutrients to thrive on. But what do I know - I'm not a biologist.)

I walked over to the kitchen to dump it out and of course, there was a whole band of engineers hanging out, getting their morning fix and chatting. I tried to hide the mug (conveniently, one of S's science mugs) but as I approached the sink, they noticed it. I braced myself for well deserved ridicule, "Dude! Nasty stuff! Wash that *&^&%$ before you leave for the west coast next time, will ya?" But it didn't materialize. Instead they were as intrigued as I was. I dumped it in the sink and left it for them to prod. I think I need some bleach to make that mug safe again. Perhaps I should toss it.