What's "north" for you, Dallas?

Major rainstorm today. I decided to get up early and go to the pool for a swim. Yesterday I did a run in the morning and a solo ride in the afternoon.

Just for fun, I used the scale in the gym. Weight is down to 138.5 pounds, which is about 5 pounds lighter than my usual weight. This tri training is burning up too many calories.

I still have a potbelly. It's small, though.

Never, ever, ever living in the belly of the beast. No, "north" just means "north Austin" instead of "south Austin". AG doesn't want to spend nearly as long commuting as she is.

Without [MENTION=178937]sbxx1985[/MENTION] here, I don't think that there are any Bears fans, so I don't know that it'll get much traction. I do like that you're coming around on the subject of football, though.

After more than a week of miserable weather, it looks like we're in store for a few days of sun. I've got such a backlog with riding and shop work that I'm going to have trouble figuring out where to start, though.

There's at least one Bears fan.

Oh, I hope that you're not that poor soul.

I am. I'm anticipating a sub .500 season.

3 years ago I was riding between Lake Wenatchee and Plain, and way up ahead I saw a lady walking her dog alongside the road. I don't ride with my glasses on, so my sight isn't exactly 20/20, so as I got closer, I saw it was a mama bear with two cubs. I was getting ready to dial it up to 400w, and get over to the other side of the road, when they hooked a right into the woods. I still stayed way over to the left, and as I passed, I looked into the area they ducked into. They were all three just sitting there, watching me go by. I briefly considered stopping to get a pic, then just as quickly decided to go on my merry way.

Last year in Hunterdon County, NJ:

OMG football. My entire childhood was spent watching my father scream at the television on Sunday afternoons in fall & winter. Rabid Giants fan. Somehow I learned to avoid developing an interest in football, it always just looked upsetting to me.

I shouldn't have brought up the bear theme, since I have no bear story myself. Well just one of those "day in the life" kind of stories.

At work we have a board where someone from reception writes down some emergency case that's on it's way in. The board usually fills up with the common stuff: not eating, can't walk, seizures, hit by car, etc.

Sometimes though really odd stuff gets put up there and you see that and think WTF? Like last Thursday: "Ate a baby turtle" was on the board.

A few years ago, there was one: Bear, choking on a marshmallow.

Lol, first I get an image of yogi bear stealing someone's picnic basket. But this is LA so it has got to be a movie bear. The second funny thing is that they're feeding the bear marshmallows. And that who ever is in charge thinks a bear could choke on a marshmallow. I mean maybe that could happen if the bear has some kind of swallowing disorder but generally speaking, a bear's esophagus is too large to choke on something as small as a marshmallow. I guess it could be caught in his trachea but he'd probably be dead already if the marshmallow lodged in his airway.

So you just kind of stand there for a moment and look at the board, scratch your head and try to figure out what's really going to be coming through the ER door in just a little while.

Eventually the bear arrives, its choking in the colloquial sense that horse people use, it's got something stuck in its esophagus. It gets darted and anesthetized and an endoscopy reveals an enormous hunk of meat, the bear was fed some kind of roast the day prior and he tried to swallow it whole. The internist who is scoping him can see the roast but it's way too big to retrieve with the endoscope. So she shoves her arm down the bear's throat all the way to her shoulder (that was quite an image) and pulls out the enormous rotting hunk of raw meat. Problem solved, the bear survived to act another day.

No marshmallow was ever identified during the procedure.

Hoyer should start over Cutler.

Steny Hoyer?

He's a little old to play in the NFL, but he would probably be an improvement over Cutler.

Cant be any worse.

Yes, it could be. Steny goes down in the first series with a season ending injury. Then, it's back to Cutler.

Jamarcus Russell is still looking for a job...

Good one. So is Johnny Manziel.

Lol, smart move. We've seen people in National Parks do some mighty stupid stuff in the interest of getting a pic of a bear.

On my solo pre-dawn ride on Thursday, I went through a canyon that a mountain lion has been spotted in. I spent a bit of time on that ride considering the physiology of cats, that they're sprinters really, how long would one chase me if I actually saw it with enough time to try to ride away. In the end, I decided I was kind of a goner if the cat was motivated enough. Sigh. Because I have no sprint.

This really needs pics.

I'm really conflicted on him. On one hand, there's the schadenfreude of seeing someone get what they deserve, but on the other, he seems to be so thoroughly laying waste to his life.

The Bears had a nice draft. I'm happy with it. Hawks are done but the Cubs are fun as hell. I'm always happy to talk Bears.

My kid turned six and got a deck from mom and dad. Last night he and I started the 1300 piece Lego Falcon from my sister. That thing is bad ass.

To compound the issue, he has the tools to become a top QB.

No he shouldn't.

So wish that I had taken one! It was awesome. She stripped off her lab coat like a superhero, rolled up her sleeve and shoved her arm down the throat of a bear. Not something you see every day, I was a little mesmerized as the scene unfolded I think.

Hah - good to see you.

Vikings/Pack will again fight for the North while Bears and Lions watch from the sidelines.

TWolves got Thibs - post-season next year.

My boy turns 5 in a few weeks and gets bussed off to K in the fall. I'll have tissues on hand.