JBlog

Playing in the snow

Still playing in the snow

90s Daughter!

Tags: 90s Daughter, Crazy Grandpa, home, snow

So that’s what they are! They’ve been driving me nuts on my bike rides. I’m covered in hundreds of them by the time I finish my three mile commute home. Here’s the story by Phil Nixon:

Soybean Aphid Migration Obvious byPhil Nixon,

Large numbers of “gnats” in the air in northern and central Illinois are probably soybean aphids. High infestations are present this year as far south as Interstate 70. Close examination will reveal a one-sixteenth inch long insect with a translucent green abdomen, black head and thorax, black antennae, and large oval transparent wings.

When aphids land on something, they probe it with their sucking mouthparts to see if it is good to eat. People with sensitive skin may feel a slight prick, but it is unlikely to leave a mark. Others are unlikely to feel anything at all.

These insects are migrating from soybean to buckthorn to lay eggs for the winter. Although this migration occurs over a six-week period, heavy migration typically lasts for one to two weeks. Control efforts against these winged migrants are not practical, nor recommended.

Soybean aphids pass through 15-18 generations during the summer on soybean, where they feed on the sap of the soybean plant. They live on the leaflet undersides as similar-sized, yellow to cream insects. At the end of summer, they migrate to buckthorn. Buckthorn, Rhamnus spp., is a glossy-leaved, thorny shrub common along the edge of forests and in disturbed areas such as fencerows and along streams. On buckthorn, these migrants give birth to another generation of females that mate with arriving, winged males. They then lay overwintering eggs on buckthorn. These eggs will hatch in the spring, the aphids will complete a couple of generations on buckthorn, and then fly to soybean for the summer.

Tags: soybean aphids

I’m actually getting pretty good at this.  I’m not talking about the Michael Douglas Falling Down movie, by the way.  I’m talking about the literal act of falling down – or falling over in my case.

Apparently, I’m still somewhere south of the top of the learning curve when it comes to riding with clipless pedals.  I’ve never really wiped out.  Each time I’ve had a mishap I’ve just slowly fallen over.  For me, the amount of time that passes between realizing I’m falling to making contact with the ground takes an eternity.  Maybe it looks that way to passersby, too.  Or maybe it looks like it happens fast to a third party.

Today’s failure in mainting verticality came when I was attempting to negotiate a sharp turn.  I slowed and must have turned too sharply, because the bike lost all of its momentum and I began the slow process of losing my battle with gravity.  Down I went.  I would imagine the sight was something akin to a horse falling from a chair into a ditch – all angular and thrashing, flailing knees and elbows working desperately against the empty air to gain a hold of something in an attempt to stay upright.  Of course, after falling and landing on my left side, my right foot was still clipped in, and not wanting to be on my side for any longer than was necessary, I began to try to free my still-engaged right foot from its bindings.  After a seconds-long series of odd, jerky gyrations, I finally managed to free myself and picked up the bike.

Of course, this happened right in front of my office building – and between classes, no less – so no fewer than 582 people were treated to this visual display of failure.

My thigh has a minor scrape, as does my ankle, and one of the sides of my V-Brakes needed readjustment, but other than that and a bruised ego, your author is unharmed.

Tags: clipless pedals, falling over

Very, very, very hot and humid.

Let’s see … I swam 1500 yards today.  The pool was refreshing for the first 7 seconds and then it felt hot, too.  I may swim inside tomorrow.  We’ll see.

Ryan and I rode with Ben to swim practice and then we went to Strawberry Fields to pick up some raisins and nuts for trail mix.  I’ve been eating that stuff in the morning for breakfast and I think it’s working out pretty well.  It consists of organic raisins, raw cashew pieces, raw pumpkin seeds and sliced almonds.  I don’t keep track of how much I eat, but I probably should.  I think some days I probably graze on it for longer than I need to.  Also bought some natural peanut butter and wildflower honey to mix up for pre-ride snacks.

After hitting the hippie store, Ryan and I rode back to the “Y” to get Ben and we went to Za’s for some grub.  Ben thought sitting on the couches there would be cool, so we did that.  We visited Cozy’s afterwards and then biked home.

Poor Wrigley is going nuts without Cindy here.  He was so excited when we got back home and he kept looking at the door expecting her to walk in.  We all can’t wait for her to get back tomorrow.

Didn’t run today and will wait until tomorrow night when Cindy’s back to run again.

Pretty uneventful day, really.

Oh … I picked up the Lemond from Champaign Cycle today.  The bike mechanic said he couldn’t find anything wrong with the bottom bracket and a quick spin around the parking lot didn’t reveal any odd noises or vibrations, so hopefully everything is OK.  I received the Garmin Edge 305 cycling computer from UPS and will install that soon.  I may take it on its maiden voyage Saturday morning.  Haven’t decided whether I’m going to St. Louis with Cindy and the boys yet.  I just found out I have to play drums at church Sunday morning, so I’m leaning toward staying in town so I can ride Saturday morning and drum Sunday morning.  We’ll see.

So one of the things I was looking forward to when I started bike commuting was getting rid of my more than $30 per month parking fee. Add that to the amount of money I’ve saved in gas and oil changes and I’m looking at a savings of more than $1000 per year.

So I was looking at my pay stub the other day (for the first time in more than a year … it’s online, I get direct deposit … I never even think about it) and I notice that the parking fee is still coming out.

I bought my bike at the beginning of July, which just so happens to coincide with the time we’re supposed to renew our parking passes, so I just didn’t renew my pass. Subsequently, I never received a pass, so my assumption was that all was taken care of.

Until I see that stupid fee a few days ago.

So I called the parking department who informed me that I had signed a little card four years ago that said I to specifically call and request the automatic payroll deduction to cease or the money would still be withheld.

The director of parking called me last Thursday morning (apparently she’s the only one with the authority to issue a refund) and she says she can do nothing for me, but she was willing to give me three “scratch off” parking passes which would basically allow me to park on campus for three days for “free.”

A few thoughts.

First this is my employer. They are not in the business to make money off of their employees.  I apparently did sign a little card almost four years ago, but who the hell remembers fine print on a contract … for parking, no less … on something they signed years ago anyway? On top of that, I’m a little perturbed that even though I’m helping to alleviate parking congestion on campus, am reducing the amount of exhaust emissions and conserving a natural resource, I’m being penalized because I failed to recall fine print on a parking contract I signed four years ago.

She called me back this morning and offered me half of my parking fees back.  So I’m to get half of the money for which I have received nothing in return and I’m supposed to be OK with this?  Well, I’m not.  I told her we’d probably have to get our bosses involved.  I really don’t understand her position at all.  Am I being taught a lesson?  What’s the purpose of campus parking keeping any of my money that was withheld without cause?

Yep.  There I was.  We pulled in to the Marathon gas station to fill up my wife’s family wagon, a white ’98 Dodge Grand Caravan and we pulled up past this enormous motorcycle.  I thought I recognized the brand and assumed it belonged to a guy we used to live next to.

It was a Boss Hoss – the king of all motorcycles as far as I’m concerned. Even though I’m not really into the motorized two wheel vehicle, I can appreciate a work of art when I see one, and the Boss Hoss is all art and muscle and beauty.

So anyway, I got out of the white ’98 Dodge Grand Caravan, did my business at the pump and took a few steps toward the Boss Hoss. The owner of the bike was just about to start it up, so I asked him what kind of a bike it was. The guy, it turns out, was not an ex-neighbor, but he did confirm that it was a Boss Hoss. Not even sure why I asked him. I knew what it was. Maybe part of me thought he’d offer to let me take it for a spin. Who knows.

Anyway, when I walked back up to the driver’s side window of my wife’s white ’98 Dodge Grand Caravan, she looked at me and quipped, “you got the dinette set.”

We chuckled about that for a few minutes.

Yep.  Here it is.

I drove today.  My truck, that is.  I drove my truck to work.  And here I am, on December 23, 2008, counting down the minutes until I can go to my youngest son’s Christmas program at his preschool.  I think I’ll have time to swim and eat lunch before then as it doesn’t start until 3:15 p.m. and it’s only 11:00 a.m. right now.  Yep.

Umm.

I suppose that’s about it for now.  Exciting, I know.  But hey … it’s my first ever blog post.  What more do you want?