I can't take all the credit for this, honestly.

This was one of the questions posed to Maimonides in his, Guide for the Perplexed.

The one just following, is: What is Strava.

I bet. The traffic back to W'burg gave the wife and I flashbacks of of the days driving down I-95 when visiting from NYC. That region's got a car count that's too damn high.

I make a point of arriving in DC after 8 PM and departing before 8 AM, even on Sunday. My next arrival is at midnight, and the following departure on a Sunday morning.

With a kid, a baby and a dog, it certainly makes for a long day, but it was nice to be on the road for only two days instead of three.

This reminds me: eff West Virginia. We were making good time and literally 8 miles from getting out of that godforsaken state when they closed an interstate bridge and routed traffic in to town with absolutely no detour markings. I ended up having to pick my way across the river to Ohio, in to Kentucky and back to the interstate - a detour of ~30 miles and 1.5 hours. Bastards.

Thailand story-

Since it was pouring rain for the 3 days after the wedding that I remained on that island, we didn't have much to do other than wander around the hotel or walk to the little village to get massages.

A 1 hour massage was something like 250 baht, which is around $8. For that price, why not get one every day?

Anyway, the last one involved leaving my phone and wallet in a little tray under the table. I'm a moron and made the mistake of taking two $100 bills I never converted with me to the massage place rather than leaving them in the hotel safe.

Naturally, I dozed off and woke up to find my wallet a bit lighter. The employees there suddenly lost their English and pretended to have no idea what I was implying.

There's really nothing I could do, because the police there would be 0 help, I was leaving the next morning, and I had no evidence of actually having lost any money other than knowing it was in there when I arrived. It's my own fault for not being more cautious, and at least it wasn't more, but still. Frustrating.

Was this in Huntington?

Just look at it as being part of your International Red Cross contribution for the year.

Holy cow. I would be far too paranoid to fall asleep in that situation, regardless of how much cash was in my wallet. Sorry to hear it.

The gecko took it?

TurboTax automated assistant better have an answer for, "Can I deduct money stolen abroad as humanitarian relief?"

That depends. Did you buy Premier, or just Basic?

I am a little slow for some reason at work, so I decided to check Strava.

It turns out Strava is a blocked site at my work. Hmmm....

Yup.

I just checked. Deductions for gecko theft are strictly forbidden under current IRS rules.* I found this in the section that also covered what to do in case your dog ate your taxes.

*These may be allowed as part of the Trump Tax Reform Plan

Uh huh. Is this a fake news story to cover how you really spent $200 on a message?

That place won my 2016 award for, "Most boring town to spend a weekend in". Wife's family grew up there and made it out alive.

I am thinking upgrades were involved. :innocent:

Strava link or it didn't happen.


Seriously...Probably considered "social networking" by your IT department. If you Google Strava it describes itself as a "Social Network." Many social networking sites are blocked at my work, but interestingly I can get to Strava.

Well, I finally made another weekend ride. Holy freaking crap, do I hate wind. It was pretty much a steady 20mph wind from the south. I was depressingly slow. Slower than I've been in years. I was having an OK time until about mile 15 into a 38 mile ride. From then on it was either hills or wind kicking me in the face. I think the last 15-20 miles were just a genuine survival mode slog fest. I started on an empty stomach and at a bonk breaker bar at mile 28.

Luckily, I had some friends post similarly depressing rides with similarly low average speeds in correlation to their usual abilities. I still have lots of work to do, though.

On the plus side: I did some gravel on my 32mm Paselas. Man, those have to be the best tires I've ever put on any bike. Quite honestly, they did just as well as the 35mm CX tires I usually run on gravel. The only parts where they were pretty much out of their element were places where the CX tires weren't stellar, either. I wonder if Compass cycles makes any nice 35mm slicks...

The state has some natural beauty (the trees and ground were actually snow-covered on the eastern side of the mountains on the way home, a first for us) and some of the very cool stuff at Tamarack (the only stop that we'll make in the state) suggests that there's some culture to be found somewhere, but the rest of the state can take a long walk off a short pier.

I made sure to always go with a female friend so no upgrades were requested nor received. The guys in our group who went alone were offered upgrades and declined. Allegedly.

Same. Maybe it's part of my company's "Wellness" initiative. It's ok if we waste time hand-wringing over fitness but not over baby photos.

Since you requested it -

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2894/3...772845a8_b.jpg

You're really making the most of that iPhone. Kudos!

I hate braggarts...even when they are justified.