So hot in here......

Damn......

Concerned about things getting any hotter in the Mid-East???
Honestly, I am.

Here is an interesting piece from Zmag that I read earlier proposing that the US military Junta will not actually attack Iran.

"...let's imagine, for a moment, what almost any version of an air assault -- Israeli, American, or a combination of the two -- would be likely to do to the price of oil. When asked recently by Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News about the effects of an Israeli attack on Iran, correspondent Richard Engel responded: "I asked an oil analyst that very question. He said, 'The price of a barrel of oil? Name your price: $300, $400 a barrel.'" Former CIA official Robert Baer suggested in Time Magazine that such an attack would translate into $12 gas at the pump. ("One oil speculator told me that oil would hit $200 a barrel within minutes.") "

Not to mention the cost in human life.

We'll just continue to wage a 'covert' war....

This worked out as well as I hoped it would....

(click for bigness)

Moe was completely calm riding in the Xtracycle. He was even his
normal chill self after getting his vaccinations, and on the ride back.

What else? hmmm

Start the new gig in a week....oh, and we get the keys for the new pad wednesday as well.

A co-worker of mine said there are 7 major stresses in your lifetime. The are: Starting a new job, losing said job, getting married, getting divorced, moving, and.....i can't remember the rest.
Point being that inside of the next 6 weeks, i'll be doing three of those.

Appears 35W is almost done too. Heard the company building it is getting $100k for each day the bridge is done ahead of schedule. Sounds like they're going to be a few months ahead of schedule. Damn.

Did youexpect anything else?

Cole's new bike!

I actually saw 4 xtracyle equipped bikes on my ride back
to St. Paul from CRC where Hurl hooked me up with this
sweet cannondale, after giving my rear derailleur install
the proper adjusting.

Really?

What does a densely populated country of 1,147,995,898 people need more of? Why, automobiles and roads of course!
If this isn't a great example of the misappropriation of resources for profit (capitalism) than i'm not sure what is.

But automobiles are freedom right? As gas soars past $4/gallon, more and more people in my neck of the woods are coming to other conclusions.

sunday, sunday, sunday

It was gorgeous outside!
Met up with five friends for bagels and coffee @ 9am. We then rolled out to Stillwater to watch the final stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix.
Had a few beers and cheese curds (thanks Ted) while ingesting the amateur race. Had a couple more beers and some homemade wine with the womens and mens pro races. Kristin Armstrong dominated. The next closest rider at the finish was 77 seconds away, and she was the only rider I saw out there with a smile on their face.

on our ride home....

"you know that 'wall' you sometimes hear about?" - me to A

"yea, it was back there" - A to me

upon realizing i should have made more of an effort to take in some food.
when we got to within 5 miles of 'ol Mexico (a mediocre restaurant, with nice drink specials. ...aren't most?) my legs just went tingly and I fell off the back of the group. i pulled out of my arse an assortment of excuses: giving blood two days before, getting sunburnt the day before, getting sunburnt that day, not eating lunch, that last PBR and glass of wine, and the wind.

lame? yes.

did my riding friends buy it? i think so

Awesome!

Is summer finally here?

I think so. Even though it was something like 38 degrees F when I rode to work monday morning.
But the temperature trend is moving upwards!

Evidence:
Red Wing, MN 5/26/08



Just off of Harriet Island (map) a pretty chill duck, and a "roadie" 5/31/08

I Iike this view of downtown St. Paul....