Fall is here

Labor Day weekend has come and gone, the kids are in school, and we're settling into the routine of the fall. A few changes here and there. Another cycle of seasons, the year will pass again, and we will carry on.

A few things of note:

We crashed the family reunion with the Pittsburgh cousins on Labor Day Sunday with our Caps gear on, much to their collective chagrin. After the emotional hugs and kisses that accompany reuniting with several generations, we had to give and take as is the norm in American sports culture regarding our allegiances to these groups of millionaires that seem to take our minds off the mundane trappings of life. Hockey season is less than 3 weeks away!!!

Kids are out of the house by 7:30 AM, which means we can get to work early or on time or both. No more bus stop action. Much more independence for everybody, and for teens and 'tweens, that's a GOOD THING.

There are glimmers of potential projects coming back to life in the construction industry and housing market, which means that we can focus on design, production, and normalcy at work, instead of worrying about where (or who) the next cut is going to befall. We're not out of the woods yet, but we're seeing light at the edges of the forest.

I'm about to put some Tektro 720's on my CX rig. I'm tired of the tentative braking power I'm getting with my current Tektro set. Looking forward to no more shuddering and no more squealing. Not that this will make too much difference at Charm City next weekend. The cyclocross season is upon us!

Polished off some Guinnesses (Guinni?) with our friends up the street, catching up on all the goings on around the block (and environs) while the boys jammed downstairs and the girls did their own thing. The band is sounding tight. We all agreed that this has been a crappy year, with the unusual toll that cancer is taking on people we know and love. Which means that these evenings sitting around and catching up with the people we love need to happen more, not less.

Found a sweet balance point during my last interval today on my ride. I was doing 2 sets of 3 min on and 2 min off, and in that last 3 minute rep I found the point at which I was hurting but not blowing up...I need to listen to the body more instead of looking at the meter.

Ten minutes a day on the guitar is tons better than 20 or so minutes once every couple of weeks. It's amazing how the muscle memory gains traction with repetition instead of wishing it so. I told my friend Bill that I've got the E shaped barre chord down, so the barre-ed F is actually easy for me now when just 3 weeks ago it represented a tortured mangle of fingers. Next challenge is the A shaped barre for the B chord, which is starting to become less uncomfortable. Bill, who is quite an accomplished musician told me that barre-ing a B chord separates the men from the boys. Manhood, I am at your doorstep.

And a few other things that will reveal themselves to me in the days ahead, as they always do. It's been a decent start to the fall--much better than the weird days of this past summer.