Ermahgerd Snerw!

 Might have to wear gloves on my run today.

Apple Cross

The thermometer read 27 degrees when I left the house to drive up to Green Bluff for the penultimate race of the Inland Northwest Cyclocross Series 2012. When I arrived at Walter's Fruit Ranch, the van's thermometer said it was 30 degrees. A veritable heat wave was on the way. But the sun disagreed and hid behind the clouds, never taking even a small peek at the people bursting their lungs in the frigid air. The cold called for ski gloves and snow suits for the spectators and riders layered up.

I cruised around the course and found it was, as to be expected, absolutely frozen. Pumpkins lined many parts of the course. Some of them would become victims of sliding tires during the day.

The twist 'n' turns between the start and the run up.

 A pumpkin-lined Apple Cross.

 The start was a short uphill straightaway.

 The temp reached 36 by the third race and the course got greasy.

The loose straw combined with the thawing mud made this a treacherous turn.

 It only takes a split second.

 A number of racers bought it on this turn as well.

I got off to a good start and was in third until we reached the run up. The warming temperature transformed the frozen dirt into mud everywhere on the course. For some reason my shoes seemed to be the only ones that couldn't get any traction on the run up. It was very frustrating as a number of riders in my group got by me. The 180-degree turns at the end of each back-and-forth in the orchard slicked up, too, especially one with a lot of straw thrown on it. I had a soft fall there but stayed upright for the remainder of the race. After that it was just a matter of cranking out the laps until it was over. 

Me chasing Joe.

I had a rider in front of me, Joe, who I chased, caught, and ended up chasing again. (Danged slippery run up!) Another racer, Steve, who rides a single speed started catching up to me on the fourth lap. This was his second race of the day. Steve is a machine. He got by me on the fifth lap only to crash on the turn with all the straw and mud. He fought to reel me back in and I took a chance on a turn that caused my back wheel to slide out. I stayed upright but I also stopped. Now he was back in front and we both scrambled to catch Joe. The finish was next to the start which meant we had to sprint uphill. Although we had closed in on Joe, there was still a gap of about thirty feet when he crossed the finish line. I finished with my front wheel next to Steve's pedals. All three of us shook hands and congratulated each other for our efforts. Fun times.

Not Coming To A Town Near You - Weed Warehouse

The Washington State Liquor Control Board, given the responsibility of implementing Initiative 502, has posted a fact sheet on some of the law's requirements. Here's an excerpt concerning retail outlets.

Photo from THCFinder

Retail Outlets 
Specific number of retail outlets and licenses will be determined by the WSLCB in consultation  with the Office of Financial Management taking into account population, security and safety  issues, and discouraging illegal markets. The initiative also caps retail licenses by county. 
  - Retail outlets may not employ anyone under the age of 21, nor allow anyone under the  age of 21 to enter the premises. 
  - Retail outlets are only authorized to sell marijuana/marijuana products or paraphernalia. 
  - Retailers are allowed one sign identifying the outlet’s business or trade name, not to exceed 1600 square inches. 
  - They are not allowed to display marijuana or marijuana related products in a manner that  is visible to the general public.


Will employees have to pass a drug screening before they're hired? Will employees be fired if they fail a drug test? What will the job interviews be like?

Tell you about my experience? Well, back in high school....

Keeping An Eye On The Aggressor

Glen Greenwald makes some good points about the CNN report on Iran allegedly shooting at a US drone. CNN basically repeated what they were given by the Obama administration and didn't bother asking Iran what their side of the story was.

I'm reminded of Stephen Colbert's blistering of the press corps at the White House Correspondents Dinner back in 2006.   

But, listen, let's review the rules. Here's how it works. The President makes decisions. He's the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Just put 'em through a spell check and go home.

But I digress.

From the CNN article:

Two Iranian Su-25 fighter jets fired on an unarmed U.S. Air Force Predator drone in the Persian Gulf last week, CNN has learned.  The incident raises fresh concerns within the Obama administration about Iranian military aggression in crucial Gulf oil shipping lanes.  

Let's put the Obama administration concerns about Iranian military aggression in the right perspective.

What country invaded neighboring Iraq over unwarranted fears of weapons of mass destruction?

What country has launched missile attacks from unmanned aircraft in neighboring Pakistan, and even as far away as Somalia and Yemen, going so far as killing Americans?

Given that, one can easily understand why the Obama administration has fresh concerns about Iranian military aggression.

God Is Useful When He Suits Your Purpose

From Karl Rove:   

The president was also lucky. This time, the October surprise was not a dirty trick but an act of God. Hurricane Sandy interrupted Mr. Romney’s momentum and allowed Mr. Obama to look presidential and bipartisan.  

From Pastor Luke J. Robinson of Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Frederick, MD. 

God inflicted his wrath in the form of Superstorm Sandy on New York City, in part, because Mayor Michael Bloomberg contributed $250,000 to the same-sex marriage campaign in Maryland, Robinson said Sunday at a rally in Baker Park in opposition to Maryland's same-sex marriage law.

The Source Of My Madness

This year I've been paying attention to different aspects of my behavior, focusing on something I think is important, and then changing it. I'm just as imperfect as everyone else, more so in many cases, so I'm constantly looking at how I treat others, how I react, and how I interact and evaluating myself afterwards. It's not driving me crazy--yet. But I think I've improved, especially at work.

On a trivial note, I relearned how to tie my shoes--when I wear shoes--so the knot never comes untied. Yeah, I thought that was important enough to do.

On another trivial note, I find that when I turn the stove top burner on, I spin the knob counterclockwise from the OFF position, past LO, and on around to the number I want. I reverse the process when I turn the burner off. Now this makes sense if I'm choosing 5 or less, and it makes sense to turn the knob clockwise to 5 and higher. Why twist your wrist unnecessarily and spin the knob almost in a complete circle, right? I don't consider this important enough to force a change in my behavior, but I'm OCD just enough to notice I do this every damn time I do this.

Now you might think this wouldn't keep me awake at night if I used a microwave oven instead of cooking on the stove top. But think ahead and you'll see that raises an entirely different question. When would I use the number 9?