Constant state of flux

I am reasonably sure that only my family and a couple of
close friends still read this, chances are good that of those
readers at least a couple of you were lucky enough to be included
on my Christmas card list. I am not one who generally bothers
with sending off cards for the holidays, frankly I have quite the
negative attitude towards most of what goes on towards the end
of December. It isn't as though I am a total Grinch (maybe just a
touch), but rather that I just hate what christmas has become to
be and the commodification of such. Christmas isn't about spending
time with family anymore, rather it is about spending giant wads of
moulah and further ensuring that the sprawling retail empire ends
the fiscal year in the black.

That is what I don't like.

I like spending time with family, I like the concept of sending off
cute x-mas cards, not limited to those featuring cute little puppy
dogs wearing paper reindeer antlers with a back drop of sparkle
glitter. If nothing else it is a way to say "hey... I am still here...
I am still thinking about you... Merry x-mas and shit".

You know I really should have signed every card like that...

Merry x-mas and shit,

Felipe.

Anyway, the point of this little rant of mine, I actually managed to
find the time in my busy schedule to send off cards, which for me
is really quite amazing. Last year I was so broke from school and
not working as much that I didn't get anyone anything. My gift to
the family was to volunteer my services as the family mule, drive the
other two Minneapolis kids across the country, cook the x-mas dinner
and in general be the vibrant upbeat person that everyone loves.

So, the cards went out just fine... Or so I thought..

Less than 24 hours after I dropped off the lot of them in the drop
box over on 27th and Minnehaha, I learn that whatever company
made the envelopes must have gone with a cheap saliva activated
adhesive; my cards were arriving open! So far I have heard from
three recipients, all of which had a card that was opened.

Now this is a little troublesome, some of the cards had gift-cards
inside, others had notes talking all about my year's accomplishments.

OK, really the notes went to nobody but grandparents and extended
family, the rest of you should already know how things have been
going with my life.

So that is about it, I am miffed about the damn glue not being adhesive
enough.

Aside from that, life is good.

Hey all..

Yes I am still around.

Working a ton, but really who isn't?
I still don't know what it is about us
Americans that constantly makes us
feel the need to work work work..

But we do right?

All of my friends, family etc. are
perpetually running feeling overwhelmed
and one step behind. I don't know if
I am just getting older, but although
I am stupid busy all the time, I feel
in total control of everything that comes
my way.

But anyway work is work.. Bleargh..

We got a nice dusting of snow a couple of
days back, enough to gum up things and make
riding that much more difficult. The city
is quite good about keeping the trails
clean, so usually riding the Greenway
has been no problem. Yesterday I broke
out my SS MTB and had no difficulty what
so ever tooling around without getting into
much trouble. The problem however is that
my MTB has some serious crank issues,
there this loud constant creak each rotation
and I will be damned if I can figure out how
to repair it. I took the bike into my LBS
and they weren't able to get the non-drive
side crank arm off, which I am certain is
causing the problem.

So with that bike out of commission, I have
been riding the tried and true Miyata.

While riding fixed is quite nice in the snow,
the skinny tires were getting tossed around
like all hell in the residue left over from the
plow.

SO,

To make a long story shorter, I stopped in
this evening and got myself a front Nokian
studded tire..

Best idea ever!

I would like to get a rear as well, but the 50
dollar a pop price tag has me putting that
off for a couple of weeks.