Miscellaneous Missives

I've never had an electric toothbrush before, but after my dentist told me I needed three fillings and recommended a electric toothbrush, I bought myself and electric toothbrush.  Of course, I added more cardboard to our landfills although I actually recycled it and bought my toothbrush using Amazon Prime.  It's unfortunate, but I really am a sucker for Prime.  Anyway, my new toothbrush has a two minute time.  I'm certain to quite certain that I've never actually brushed my teeth for two minutes.  Do people actually brush their teeth for two minutes?  What?!  Maybe I'll go back to working on balancing while I brush my teeth.  BTW... I do love the new toothbrush. 

You know the idiom, "Lose you shirt?"  Well, I didn't lose my shirt, but I lost my navy shorts.  It's a bit disconcerting, but not disconcerting enough to do anything about it.  The truth is I mainly am in dresses or biking attire in the summer, so I can do without these particular shorts.  I, however, keep searching.  By searching I mean pawing through the already unorganized drawer hoping they'll peak out.  Although I should take the time to organize my drawer, I have books to read, miles to ride, and people to see.  If you want to come help, they look like this black pair of shorts, but they're navy.  Please feel free to come organize my drawers. 

People from the group... no idea who! I don't typically ride with the bike club her in Minneapolis on Wednesdays because I typically play golf Wednesday evenings.  Since I played golf this morning, I thought I'd give tonight's ride a try.  As soon as I saw the ride leader, I thought about going on my own, but riding with a group gives me a different perspective and takes me on routes I wouldn't typically traverse.  Tonight's ride had some hills which was good.  It also had some nice riders.  The ride leader called tonight's ride dam to dam because we saw two dams.  One was on Lake Minnetonka and the other was on Medicine Lake (I think).  Anyway, I definitely would use the word damn to describe tonight's ride.  Once I stayed back, so I wouldn't get run into by a turning car.  The group didn't wait, and it took me forever to catch up.  At least three times the ride leader cruised through a yellow light or just ahead of oncoming traff...

I returned to Minneapolis last night to join my friends celebrating at this year's Pride parade.  Black Lives Matter protested at the beginning of the parade as they did last year.  I have mixed emotions about this.  First, I think most of the people at the Pride parade are their folks.  We are liberal minded people that understand the devastating effect of police brutality and racism.  Holding up the start of the parade for over an hour is excessive.  Next, I understand that we were inconvenienced for over an hour while black people are inconvenienced by random traffic stops due to racial profiling and deaths of family members daily.  It's a tough call, and I'm sad to say I found it a little annoying.  That being said, I get it.  I really do.  Happy Pride everyone.

I used to work as a cocktail waitress at a bar in downtown Cedar Falls, Iowa during the summer.  Sturgis Falls is a big celebration for the town, and it was always fun and profitable working that weekend.  Friday I drove down to partake in the fun and do another ride (60+ miles) which was mainly on county roads through corn and bean fields.  It was good practice for the Iowa rollers (smaller hills coming together).  Of course, I rode with some of the Team Wimpy crowd whom I really love and appreciate.  Today as I was thinking about some funny stories to write about, I realized it's hard to explain what it's like to ride 60+ miles with a small group of individuals and try to remember all the little stories/jokes/ sexual innuendos that happened during the day, and quite frankly, some should remain unshared. I noticed all of my biking pictures are starting to look the same.  Perhaps I need to up my game. 

Yesterday I rode the Bacoon ride (85 miles total for the day) through some small towns around Des Moines, Iowa.  Most of us wore the same jersey.  Not only are the jerseys stylish, they help us keep track of each other on the ride.  Some parts of the ride were brutal due to heat index of 100+ and 20+ mph winds.  We behaved better on this year's ride (probably because of heat and need to stay hydrated) although there was plenty of shenanigan's and off trail consumption.  My favorite stop on my PassPORK was the bacon nachos.  Each stop had a food with bacon.  The corndogs had bacon in them, but I really don't like corndogs.  Who wants all that bread stuff surrounding their hotdog?  I think they should have wrapped bacon around the hotdog, grilled it, and called it a day, but once again, no one asked me. 

I'm babysitting Britt Britt to start my summer vacation.  We sit on the deck in the morning geeking on the computer and drinking coffee.  We take a variety of walks during the day listening to a book on tape, March Forward, Girl .  We read inside and outside depending on our moods, It Won't Be Easy:  An Exceedingly Honest (and Slightly Unprofessional) Love Letter to Teaching .  Sometimes Britt Britt must stay home alone while I go cycling, but basically we are hanging out together and loving the first days of summer.  We even sewed up her duck that was leaving trails of stuffing throughout the living room. Late yesterday afternoon, however, our peaceful time of hanging out came to an end.  I typically only keep Britt Britt on the leash near the condos where the other dogs are present.  As soon as we are away from the sidewalk area,  I let Britt Britt run near the pond and up and down the area next to the railroad tracks.   W...