Catching Up, But Not Breathing Hard

Okay, it's been a while since I posted something here, but sometimes life gets in the way of writing about it, and I have to set some time aside to step back, breathe, and regurgitate that mess to you my loyal readers.  Well, I hope you guys think it's more than a regurgitated mess, but that's up to you to decide whether it's worthy of 5 minutes out of your own busy lives.

So, this week has been busy, so let's get right to it.  Some of my buddies decided to take up billiards again because of a broken finger received while bowling.  I like pool, my family has a pool table, and I also like anything where I get to aim at something and smack it.  I also like darts, frisbee, and archery.  I haven't picked up a bow and arrow in quite a while, but I still have fond memories (Oooh, pull it out quick, walk it off, it's a good thing you got that tetanus shot).  Take a look at Warren here, punishing those bad balls for being arranged all nice and neat:

 

Action Shot!

 

Remember, last weekend got rained out, so I could actually afford to stay up late and do normal hanging out stuff instead of going to sleep at 10 PM.  But because of all that rain, and that it's still technically winter here in California, a new layer of snow showed up in the mountains I climb on my bike during my daily rides.  See if you can find the snow covered mountain top in this next shot:

 

Me and my shadow.

 

Now, normally, I would have posted something about the snow and how the sun is setting later again, so I can ride after work instead of on my lunch break (yes, I rode on my lunch break, obsessed I tell you!), but that would have happened on Thursday, but my boss had other plans for me for that night: schmoozing with a vendor and his local network of clients.  Now, this wasn't one of the printing industry's usual vendors, whose profit margins are so slim, it's usually just enough to buy you donuts when they come for a visit.  This particular vendor has a suite at the Staples Center, so I had to go to a Laker game.  I know, poor me, going to business meetings late at night after having been up since 5 in the morning, and, of all the the luck, having the meeting downtown.  Well, at least there was a floor show.  Here's the stage:

 

Not TOO bad of a view from here.

 

And here was the conference room:

 

All this and chips too!

 

So, that was a late night.  The Lakers put down the Sacramento Kings by 21 points, and I got to see a fight in the pricey seats right below us.  A Kobe fan was grappling with a Mike Bibby fan.  What I liked too was how Mike Bibby got the loud boos, but the loudest boos came when the referees were introduced and Steve Javey got the worst of it.  Awesome!

I mentioned that the sunset comes later these days, so on Friday, I was able to go a little further on my climbing ride than usual.  The usual is stopping in the middle of Morris Reservoir, but this ride, I got to the dam that fills it up:

 

San Gabriel Dam, the bigger one.

 

I also satisfied a personal goal with this ride: I climbed the whole thing in my big front gear.  For those who don't know, road bikes have more than 9 or 10 gears because they can switch gears, either 2 or 3, up near the pedals.  This gives the cyclist 18 or 20 gears, or 27 or 30.  All these gears are necessary depending on the terrain and how fast you want to go.  The big gear is supposed to be for speed, not climbing, but for strength training days, I try to ride the big gear because, plainly, it's harder.  So, I felt like a stud, yeah!

Friday was a busy day for special foods.  An adjacent department had met an incentive goal, and I had promised them a Sushi boat for lunch if all the quality control checks came back positive.  And they did (I was sure I wouldn't have to dish out for the sushi, but I guess the incentive worked).  So, a big platter of sushi for lunch.  Then a little bit later, we had the office cake for Mike's birthday, which is this Sunday.  There he is, cutting the grub:

 

I'll have that big piece here, and you guys can fight over this itty bitty piece.

 

Our officemates were anxious to fight over that itty bitty piece (I'm kidding of course, I ate the big piece ;) ):

 

Cut that cake already!

 

And, as always, Jenni has to add her special sense of gravitas to every occasion.  Thanks Jenni!

And finally today.  I rode 80 miles today, mostly climbing, in preparation for the Solvang Century in a couple weeks.  Starting from Pasadena, I climbed Salvia Canyon, Lida, Glenoaks in Glendale, the hill next to the golf course in Griffith Park, Barham, Mulholland Drive, Sepulveda Pass, Chevy Chase in La Canada, and finally Sierra Madre in Sierra Madre.  Here's the view of the Hollywood Bowl from Mulholland Drive:

 

I would have shot the Hollywood sign, but there were stairs involved. I was doing enough climbing already.

 

I was a little tired after all that.  According to my altimeter on my bike, all that was over 4400 feet of climbing.  Not bad.