Well we’re finishing up day 1 of our journey westward right now, and I’ve gotta say, moving is f***ing exhausting. We’ve been up since 8am and we’re only 2 hours from Minneapolis, but today was more full than the past week. The biggest event, of course, being the packing. My entire body is sore as hell. My feet, my knees, my thighs, my elbows, my hands… damn.
Most of the day was spent in packing up the remainder of our things and moving them downstairs and into our “Cube” in the alley. Our “cube” is basically this 6′ x 7′ x 8′ crate that we’re having shipped (I believe by truck) out to Portland with all of our stuff. And I do mean ALL of our stuff… or at least most all of it. We definitely filled the thing pretty damn near full today, excluding some cloths and things like that we packed in the car (which definitely still would have fit in the “cube”. Throughout the day we had a fair amount of help from Kate and Mike, my Mom and Molly, who were all a great deal of help. My mom brought chili over for lunch which was especially fantastic. All in all we worked for a good 8 hours just finishing packing things into boxes and hauling them down to the cube. Around 5:30 I called U-Pack (our movers) to pick up the cube, thinking it wouldn’t get picked up until the next day, and within about 30 minutes it was gone. It was a little unsettling seeing it gone, but relieving to know it was on it’s way.
Finally, we started cleaning up the apartment, which is one of the worst activities to do after you’ve been busting your ass hauling stuff around all day. We eventually got to the point where we just said “fcuk it”, packed the remainder of our things into the car and hit the road. I think we ended up leaving around 8 or 9pm, which was fine. The plan for leaving tonight was just to shave off a few hours of travel for the trip tomorrow. The goal for tomorrow is Bozeman, MT where my Uncle Ray and Cousin Biz live. Bozeman is about 13 hours from Minneapolis, and we’re figuring the difference between 10 and 13 hours is work the night drive. Besides, all of our stuff is packed up so we would have wound up sleeping on the floor of our apartment anyway.
So here we are, in room 133 of the Super 8 Motel in Alexandria, MN, so exhausted it hurts to think that I need stand up again to take my much needed shower. Very excited for bed, and very excited for the remainder of this trip. Can you guess how many times I’ve written “remainder” in this blog entry without looking back? Anyway. I need to shower and I need to sleep. More adventures tomorrow.
Billy Mays for Oxi Clean
So I’ve got this shirt right? I love this shirt. Laura’s folks gave it to me for Christmas a year ago, and I’m not exactly sure what the material is, but it’s the most comfortable, warm shirt I’ve ever owned. It’s awesome. And on top of all of this, they don’t make this particular shirt anymore. I know because I tried to buy another but couldn’t. Anyway, when Laura and I took our trip to China, I accidentally left the shirt at my buddy Paul’s place in Beijing. So I’d been without this shirt for about 8 months until Paul was able to bring it back to the States this past holiday season. Super excited to have my shirt back, I wore it immediately, and what happens? I get a super awesome oil stain right on the front of the shirt. Awesome.
So oil stains? I have no idea how to treat any stain, much less a stain as difficult to treat as an oil stain. Oh, and of course I let the stain set. So I tried a few things trying to get the stain out. First just washing it. Then I tried WD-40 (found that online somewhere). Scrubbed with laundry detergent. Nothing got the stain out. Super bumbed. So Laura, being the amazing girlfriend she is, was asking people what they recommended. Sally, my sister-in-law, said that she used the Shout Scrub Brush and added the laundry crystals(?) and then just scrubbed all that business in, and it worked for most everything the kids got into. So last night, we stop by the grocery store and got some Shout Ultra Gel and Oxi Clean. Get home, scrub it all into the stain. Let it sit about 5 minutes (recommended by the Shout directions). Then scrubbed the shirt in the hottest water the tap would produce, and rinsed with cold water. Let it hang dry, and presto! The stain is gone, shirt saved!
Granted I’m not exactly a conisour of cleaning products, and I don’t know if it was the Oxi Clean or the Shout that did it, or both. But the stain is gone, and I’ll probably be using that remedy again in the future. Thank you Laura, Sally, Billy Mays.
So lately Laura and I, mostly I, have been playing a fair amount of Nintendo. I’m not exactly sure what spawned it, but a couple of weeks ago we bought Mario 3, Ramparts, and Double Dragon II. Followed by Tetris, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and one of my all-time favorites, Batman. I think all I really need now is Mike Tyson’s Punchout. Shit’s expensive though.
Anyway, my real reason for this post was an excuse to brag that I just beat Batman. It’s a notoriously difficult game that I believe I’ve only beaten on an emulator, making this my first time really beating the game. Yes I am a dork, and yes I took a couple of pictures. 
That's the Joker on the ground to the left of Batman
Batman proceeds to throw the Joker off the side of the building. Very classy game.
Well yesterday I came to learn that I actually broke my thumb a week ago. The entire was fairly disappointing on multiple levels, but it’s good to finally know what’s wrong with my thumb (which is still sore and I guess will continue for 5-8 weeks).
So yesterday I finally have my visit with the orthopedist after evidently breaking one of my thumb bones over a week ago. Originally, I had gone to the ER the night of the incident (falling on my bike in the slippery snow). The doctor from the ER told me that I hadn’t broken my thumb (disappointing) and that I should call the orthopedist (specialist) to look at it more closely. He then told me that normally it can take a month or two to get in for an appointment but that if I tell them I was in the ER they should be able to get me in within a few days as they normally block off time for “ER victims”. So, the next day I give them a call and talk this lady who I think had dipped into the prescription drugs or something. I told he my situation and she said the earliest I could get in would be Feb 2nd. Well of course this doesn’t work as there is an immediate need to do something about my thumb, in addition to the fact that we’re moving at the end of the month and won’t even be in the state on Feb 2nd. So I politely say that I was in the ER and they told me the orthopedist usually block of some time for people from the ER. From here I think she asked me when I injured my thumb and when I went to the ER (both the previous night) about three times, as it can be very difficult to remember such a complicated date as “yesterday”. She also for some reason had to ask me my birthday about 4 different times. And in the end, when was the earliest I could get in? Oh, yeah. Feb 2nd. Annoyed I hung up and called back about 4 hours later hoping to get a more competent human being on the line. I did and was able to get an appointment for a week (rather than a month) later. My appointment wasn’t within 3 days as the ER doctor said, but good enough.
So then comes my appointment. Basically, I sat in the waiting room for about 45 minutes, followed by waiting in the patient room for about 30 minutes, and then in the very final moments before I was about to walk out the doctor finally came into the room (I had to leave by 1:10pm and the doctor came in at 1:08pm). The five minutes I spent with the doctor we very nice. But it would have been nice if i didn’t have to wait an hour and ten minutes for them to tell me I broke my thumb and to continue doing what I’ve been doing (keeping it in a brace, taking ibuprofen, etc.) Very annoying.
In the end it could have been worse, and it’s finally good to know what’s wrong with me. Still sucks that I’m missing a thumb for the next month or two, but at least it’s not gone forever.
Took a little spill on my bike today and jacked up my thumb a bit. Really not quite sure what happened. Got an X-Ray and no fractures or anything, but I got a splint to immobalize my thumb and the number to a hand specialist. Beat guess at this point is that I dislocated it and it just popped right back into place. Don’t really know though. So much for Wednesday night.
Waiting to get an X-Ray.
Also waiting for me to get an X-Ray.
What you get when the Doctors have no idea what's wrong.
This song has been out for quite a while, but I think I’m just now realizing how much I like it. Haven’t listened to much anything else from these guys yet, but I might have to check some out. The band is Glasvegas. They’re from Glasgow, Scotland, so I’m assuming the name is some reference to their hometown + Las Vegas. Not quite sure what the significance of Las Vegas is though. Anyway, the song is solid.
An article was recently published in the Twin Cities Pioneer Press by Joe Soucheray entitled Not cold nor sludge can stop the morons. In this article Soucheray quotes a colleague of his, Patrick Reusse, to say,
Well, if they [bicyclists] fall down in front of me, I will run over them in their snowmobile suits and squash them like a bug… Oh, I’ll call 911 and tell them where the body is, but I ain’t stoppin’.
After reading a bit of his article, it quickly became apparent how deranged and/or stupid Joe Soucheray really is. One of the first paragraphs on his article starts with,
GET OFF THE STREETS, YOU MORONS! OK, that might be a bit harsh, especially coming from me, as I have made my peace with the two-wheelers.
You see, he’s made his peace, but has now decided to write an article in which he calls bicyclists morons and suggests squashing them like a bug as a reasonable way to vent frustration.
Bikes have a right to the road. They have a right to the road in the winter, and a right to the road in the summer. It doesn’t matter what the weather is like. Motorists must observe the rights of those around them. Motorists do not have the right to “squash them like a bug…” and “…call 911 and tell them where the body is.” Now Joe and the Pioneer Press have the right to express any opinions they may have, but I think it shows a great deal of irresponsibility to endorse a hit and run.
The problem here is not that Joe Soucheray doesn’t like to share the road with bikers. I could care less what Joe likes. The REAL problem here is that there is an existing intolerance shown towards bicyclists by motorists. This intolerance creates a more dangerous environment for cyclists, and Joe Soucheray’s article, irresponsibly published by the Pioneer Press, creates an acceptance of this intolerance. People die every year from being hit by a motorist on their bike. It doesn’t matter if it’s winter or summer. Motorists bully everyone around them, and people get injured and die from it. Soucheray’s arrogance and intolerance of bikers along with the Pioneer Press’ acceptance and publication of this opinion incites hatred and intolerance. Shame on them all.
As you may or may not have heard, Laura and I have signed a lease on a house in Portland. Here are the pictures that we have of the house. It’s in a good area and seems like a really nice little home. We’re both excited.
