NMBP w/ Stuff

So I'm looking into IMBA's National Mountain Bike Patrol. It patrols area trails, offering mechanical, medical, and educational assistance. I have the mechanical thing down, but I need to get my First Aid cert. The main problem is we only have one patrol group in the state, and it's in Dallas. So I'd be on my own. Could be cool though. I think I'd enjoy it a lot.
Our men's ministry is about to start up for the next year. I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for me/us. It has been a blessing to me, leading it over the years. I'm gonna have a hard time letting someone else do it. We have our kick off breakfast this Saturday.
Not much else is going on. The truck is about to hit 215,000 miles. Wow. God is the only reason it's still going, and to Him goes ALL the glory. I'm starting to check on resources on a new engine. I think it'll be cheaper to rebuild the drivetrain, rather than replace the truck all together. Plus, Tara's up for the next new vehicle. She deserves it for all she does for us, and what she's driving right now. She's a blessing to me. I love her very much. It's nice to marry your best friend...

Riding at midnight

Dude, how old am I? 35? going on 36? And there I am, out at 12:30 am tearing up the streets on the Maruishi. Man that thing wants to go! Which is good now that I broke down and added a brake, so now I have some confidence. I'm afraid to really open it up all the way. What if lightning strikes me at the precise moment the flux capacitor kicks in? I'd shoot back in time before I knew what happened. I did discover either I forgot how to flip the pedal over and slide into a toeclip, or it's much harder with your feet consistently moving.
Today was day one of dance school hell for me. Chuck had his week of dance school shooting (remember, we're photographers) hell, now it's my turn for dance school printing hell. I printed around 460-8x10 units at work. That's 5 hours of entering packages. The whole room stunk of ink. I still have mixed feelings about switching the lab from an optical/chemical process, to ink jets. Granted, the color correction is easier, prints faster, no color shift due to aging chemistry, no chemistry, but I still think the optical looks better. Oh well.
The ride was a good break from the day.
I'm ready to start commuting...

Riding Fixed

Bikes that is. The bike is fixed. Not, er nevermind. Tonight I finished the Maruishi Road bike. It's now a fixed gear conversion. Fixed gear means there is no coasting. If the bike is moving, ie wheels are turning, the pedals and crank are moving. I hear it's sort of a zen thing. We'll see. And it's brakeless. You must resist the pedals to slow and stop. More zen. So far, it was amazing. But, it's hard to describe why. You are in complete controll and contact with the bike at all times. My goal is to commute on this brakeless, zen fixed bike. 12 miles one way, should make it in under an hour. That's 120 miles of riding a week, $240 in gas saved, less wear and tear on the Disco. She's starting to get tired, but that's another story. Bottom line, fixed is cool, and I need to sway Tara on commuting a bit more. She did say it was my decision though... oh and the seat sucks.

Just got back from STL

We'll I just got back tonight from another PromoPix job. The same Synergy Sports contact was there, Courtney, from the "Got Milk, Think Your Drink" tour. What are the odds? This time it was "USA Football, Under Armor" with Sports Authority tour in St. Louis. Fly in fri night, job sat morning, fly out sat afternoon. It rained the whole time, save the time we where working, when I roasted my face in the sun. Then it rained some more...
Kinda wanted to see the Arch, and other attractions. It just rained. I did get some cool cloud shots out the airplane window though.
There where parts of STL that looked like Austin. I would like to take a week to explore more.