Tagged by Bret, I reveal all. As predicted, some answers are just as he posted them. I'm not going to make up something else just for the sake of being different.
1. Three things that scare me:
Motorists (both as a cyclist and a commuter)
The public education system
That I could die and only my wife would notice.
2. Three people that make me laugh:
Steven Wright
Douglas Adams
James Lileks
3. Three things I hate the most:
Hypocrisy
Arrogance
People holding cell phones to their ears while driving (get a headset!).
4. Three things I don't understand:
Religious fanatics with guns and high explosives
Federal income tax codes
The enduring popularity of reality TV
5. Three things I'm doing right now:
Sitting in my skivvies, looking for the two-month-old eyeglass prescription I need to have filled today
Reveling in the fact that I have all day to do all the things I have to do today
Wishing I had a Chick-fil-A® breakfast sandwich for breakfast
6. Three things I want to do before I die:
Ride my bike 100 miles in one day
See something I write or photograph published
Give my wife the landscaping she desires and deserves
7. Three things I can do:
Install a ceiling fan
Change a flat tire
Make people laugh (when they know that doing so is the only way to shut me up)
8. Three ways to describe my personality:
Cynical
Detail oriented
Verbose
9. Three things I can't do:
Draw/paint/sketch/doodle
Play a musical instrument
Tolerate incompetence
10. Three things I think you should listen to:
The teachings of Jesus Christ
The people who love you
The strange noise that the car just started making this morning
11. Three things you should never listen to:
People who shout
Claims made on television infomercials
The voice in your head that tells you that you'll never be as good as the next guy
12. Three things I'd like to learn:
Patience
How to read and write German
To belch the alphabet like Bret's son
13. Three favourite foods:
Pizza
A nice juicy cheeseburger with a crisp salad
Chick-fil-A® breakfast biscuit
14. Three beverages I drink regularly:
Diet Coke
Water
Beer
15. Three shows I watched as a kid:
Batman
Astro Boy
The Monkees
16. Three people I'm tagging (to do this):
Turtle, as if she needed something else to do
Tink, because she's bound to come up with something twisted that makes me laugh
Susie, because she carries a knife in her purse and may hurt me if I don't tag her
13 comments:
The more that things change, the more they stay the same (pause) dah de-dah dah dah dah...
Sorry -- it really is scary in that my original title was exactly the same as yours.
Batman! Dang it, I knew I forgot one. Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt, or Lee Meriweather?
"That I could die and only my wife would notice." Egad. That's a morbid thought Foo! And btw, WE would notice. What, we don't count? Chop suey huh? ;)
Thanks for the tag. I'll post it on Tuesday. Have a great 3 day weekend!!
Bret: That is scary. Oh, and Julie Newmar.
Tink: Ha! I'm in the middle of a five day weekend. I took off work today and yesterday so that I could get some things done around the house (note the ceiling fan post), go buy some new sneakers (like Turtle has been after me to do), and have my three-month-old eyeglass prescription filled (my first bifocals).
Susie: What gets me is that I'm not even sure where that word appears in my blog. You're the one who was all exercised about rubbing, a while back, and I'm number one??
Emma: I like your explanation better.
(blush)
Eric: "Rite of passage". Yes, I think that's a good way to look at it. Frankly, I just don't have time in my schedule to spend too many 7 or 8 hour days on the bike; but I think I'll always feel like a newbie until I've done at least one.
The need to increase my average sustainable speed is more of a practical matter, and a puzzle I haven't quite figured out yet. Most of the group rides organized by the two local clubs of which I'm a member tend to average 18+ mph and accomplish this with reasonably strict paceline rotations. As a recumbent rider, I'm not at all welcome in a paceline, which means that in order to participate in this sort of ride, I'd essentially have to be strong enough to hang off the back and ride at those speeds at about the same level of effort as a solo rider on an upright with aero bars.
I don't know if I'll ever have enough time on the bike to get there, especially once Turtle goes back to work and I have to take over most of the shopping and household chores that she takes care of now.
Oh, your wise words register, all right. I'm afraid I just haven't reached that stage of enlightenment where I don't feel I have anything to prove. [grin]
The good news is that when I look at my own performance from one ride to the next, I am showing slow improvement. If I can ride faster with the same amount of effort I used to expend or the same speed with less effort, I don't have to spend all my attention and energy on just trying to keep from being dropped. And that is more fun, even for us non-blondes.
As the veteran of one -- count 'em, one -- century, I can say very authoritatively that if you combine reasonable fitness (which, sans scrapes, I'm pretty sure you have already achieved) with a supportive situation -- charity ride with all the trimmings -- you'd be able to do a century with ease.
If you're game to try the Houston/Austin MS150 this next spring (and Turtle, too!), I'd be more than happy to try and keep pace with you. The first day is an even 100 miles if you take off from the blue tees, so to speak.
I did my list - even though no one loves me enough to tag me.
Bret: ROFLMAO
Me? Do the MS150? Are you crazy? The most I've done is 22 miles during the (HHH) Collin Class in June. The only way I could do it is if I attached myself to the back of Foo's recumbent. I only wish I could!
Thanks for the confidence though. Did you notice my nick name is Turtle? hint hint
Did I mention that the MS150 is all downhill and into the wind?
Good. Because it would have been lying if I had... :-)
You write "Turtle," I see "Slow and steady wins the race."
Bret: In my case, the nick Turtle means "no matter what, no matter how slow I go, I will finish!" And, in the case of this year's Collin Classic, that was the case. I should have sagged the last 2 miles, but I'm hardheaded, stubborn and couldn't sag with only 2 miles. So I pushed all the way and finished it! The result: I got sick with heat exhaustion, but I finished it!
Maybe I can set the MS 150 as a very distant goal for when I hit 50, since it will take me that long to train for it. Right now, I'd love just to be able to do another marathon in my racing chair at 45. It's a little more realistic at this point.
10 days without a Foo post. I hope you are doing something fun. Witty banter is requested. Thank you.
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