Tag Archive for wedding

It Seems I Only Update Once Weekly

June 7, 2010 Life No comments

Okay, not really. I just haven’t had a lot of time to post here, which sucks, because I was just starting to build up some readership (per Google Analytics).

Wedding prep continues. We discovered that we under-registered, so we’re looking to add a few things. Ordering invites tonight or tomorrow. Groomsmen gifts tonight, too. Got to figure out the stuff for my groomschicks yet. Talked to Kate, we have a good idea. Just need the personalizing touch.

The framebuilding thing is chugging right along. I got the new website up and going, and while it still needs some tweaks, it’s a damn sight better than the old one. As for the bikes themselves, the 29′er is about a day’s work away from finished. It’s down to just the small details. Right behind it in the queue is the commuter frame, which is approaching completion, as well. I should have two bikes to show at Minnecycle, at the pace things are going. Expect a whole slew of photos about a week from now, showing off the finished work.

The integration of our TempCat™1 has concluded. Max is pretty much part of the family now, which is cool, but it’s going to be tough on everyone in a few weeks’ time when he goes back to Jimmy’s place. He fits in quite well and has turned into a pretty affectionate guy. It’ll be hardest on him, because I think he’s adapted quickly to having feline friends, something he doesn’t have at his usual place.

Like many geeks today, I will be watching and salivating over the Apple WWDC. Going to be hard, having geeklust for new products.

Beyond that, not a whole ton to report, Internet. Hope you’re well!

1. Original TempCat technology was pioneered by John Scalzi.

Very Much In Love

May 26, 2010 Life One comment

This will come as a newsflash to no one: I am still wildly in love with Kate.

About three months from now, we’ll be tying the knot, and I’m pretty excited about that. (Yes, you can expect a lot of pictures being posted here.) So excited, in fact, that I am having trouble writing my wedding vows. My mind is all over the map when it comes time to sit down and write. God help me, I may have to write an outline, just to get my thoughts in order.

It’s amazing how one person can come along and totally rearrange your notions of love, marriage and family.

Another Post

May 24, 2010 Bike, Life One comment

Going to try to get a few more posts up this week. Going to be busy again, but probably not batshit crazy like last week. A few new things to report:

1. Framebuilding. You knew this was coming, didn’t you? Yeah, well. Here’s what’s up — all that’s left is mounting the disc brake tabs, water bottle mounts, and filing down the fillets, and then the bike is done and ready to go to paint. The most-difficult part of the build is done — the running of the internal cable routing through the fork, something that I haven’t seen done before. The brake cable housing enters through the top of the right fork blade, goes through the steerer tube, and out mid-way down the left blade.

2. Feline Drama. We’re cat-sitting for a few weeks, and have integrated the young lad into our household. When I say “integrated”, what I really mean is that “none of the cats has called for artillery fire or close air support yet.” There’s still some hissing and growling, but I suspect by mid-week, everything should be fine. My only problem so far is being able to visually discern between Happy and Max — I have a very difficult time with it, as the only real difference is their facial structures. Also, he has been roaming around meowing at the top of his lungs repeatedly, like he’s lonely or looking for someone/something.

3. Registration! We finally went ahead and did our wedding registries on Sunday. Another item off the list! Woohoo! This coming weekend, we have a few more things to do, but at least this is done. And bear in mind that Kate hates shopping and I’ve been having upper back problems again (C6-C7 disc degradation), and we not only didn’t kill each other, but we had a pretty pleasant time. We hit up Macy’s and Target, and we have an Amazon list with a few things on it. And that’s it. This coming weekend, we’re headed to Duluth for food tastings and more prep. Fun!

Things, Stuff, and Other Things

November 3, 2009 Bike, Life, Writing 2 comments

Once again, no real clear-cut plan exists for a blog post. I’m feeling somewhat guilty for not having updated lately. So here, again, is a list of bullet points about what’s goin’ on (I hear Marvin Gaye every time I type that). Some of this is heavy, some light, and I’m guessing that most of it is transient stuff that I won’t remember a year from now.

• First and foremost, I’ve been trying to pay more attention to the happy things in life and less attention to the negative crap. No, this isn’t some loonball attempt to follow the wishful-thinking bullshit espoused by The Secret. It’s more of an attempt to just be more happy and to see the good in the rest of the world. It’s been hard to do, though. I’m very influenced by the moods of the people I’m closest to, and as a result, I have the occasional bad day.

• Framebuilding is going well. I’ve been honing my brazing skills and am starting to feel pretty comfortable with them. I’ve also finished a few joints with hand-filing and power tools, which has served to illuminate the need for a quality filling of the joint after it’s been tinned. My next session is in two weeks and we’re going to go over TIG welding — and as part of that, I’ll be using 3″ square tubing to build a welding stand, which will become part of my arsenal of tools. Once built, I’ll need to get it powder-coated and buy a few small fixtures (repairs stand clamp, casters, bolts, etc.) to get the thing put together. I’ve also blueprinted the 29′er frame and the cyclocross frames using BikeCAD.

• I also recently applied for a part-time, work-at-home gig that would have me working as the Online Editor for Cyclocross Magazine. My skill set (English degree, deep experience in interactive, and a love of cyclocross) seemed to be a good match. I did get a pleasant response from them this weekend, and have written back. Just waiting to hear more at this point. Very excited about the potential position.

• Trying to get my shit together on the 2010 training program. I really need to hit that this week.

• Calvin is getting really weird lately. The little guy has taken to standing in the corner of the living room and meowing at the top of his lungs for no particular reason that I can ascertain. We need to get the whole quartet of beasts into the vet for check-ups soon — I think we talked about doing that in January. I’ll keep an eye on him until then.

• Really vexed about what to do with a novel I’ve been writing. Stephen King has a horror novel coming out with a major plot element that’s somewhat similar to what I’d been thinking about — and I nearly just deleted the file. I realized not long after the shock wore off that we both might have gotten the idea from The Simpsons Movie. The problem is, I’m not sure I want to continue with the process of wrangling the book into a shape that could be considered “readable”…or if I should move on to the next idea.

• Wedding planning is coming along nicely. Locales for ceremony and reception are found and reserved. DJ found and reserved. Photographer found and waiting on contract from them. Future wife’s wedding shoes have arrived (and I got to watch her “squee” over them last night, which was fun). Saturday, while she’s trying on dresses, I’m going to go start looking at tuxedos and try and nail down gifts for my groomsmen — I don’t want Kate having all the fun. Also have to have a difficult discussion with one of my groomsmen, which is going to be filed under “ugh”…

• Need to install Ruby on Rails on my Mac tonight. Need to build a simple application that’s going to be part of the Ferocious Cycles website. It’s going to be a nifty little bit of code that will make for some happy customers.

• Need to make some time with my family in the near future. Haven’t seen mom in awhile and I’ve got the Scrabble itch something fierce. Should swing by dad and stepmom’s place, too. And maybe drive out to Detroit for a weekend to visit my bro and my sis-in-law, the latter of whom is undergoing chemo.

So that’s where I’m at, Internet. How are you?

I’m Back

September 23, 2009 Bike, Life, Writing No comments

So it’s been awhile since my last post. Partly because I had a short week at the office last week and a normal workload. I got everything done, then blew town for Vegas, which was awesome, as usual.

The first thing you’ll have noticed is that I reverted back to the old theme I’d been using. The garish one was too damn obnoxious for my tastes. The second thing you’ll notice is that I deleted all the accumulated spam in here. (Okay, maybe you didn’t.)

Life: Wedding preparations are starting to roll. We’ve got a location, but it’s going to necessitate two separate lists — one for the ceremony (small) and one for the reception (huge). I want Kate to walk down the aisle to “Brick House” by the Commodores. She’s having nothing of that.

Bike: ‘Cross season starts this weekend and I’m not really ready. But I’m going to hit it anyway. Might as well suffer a bit and use it as training. Worst case scenario is that it becomes training for next year. Framebuilding class is starting soon. Real soon. Oh yeah, and the debacle with my RA’ed mountain bike shoes has been resolved. Got them. Heat treating them tonight.

Writing: I think I’m finally completely burned-out on reading. Vacation’ll do that. To maintain my relationship with the written word, I’ll be trying to wrap-up the rough draft for Bubble over the next few weeks. Hoping to keep it under 130,000 words. Going to be close. After that, I have to start my next novel, which is about humanity’s first (indirect) contact with extraterrestrial intelligence.

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