Vicky's new ruby Ruby

Don't get old.  Everything hurts more with each year.

We are up to 1500+ cycling miles this season, and everything hurts.  Both of my knees ache after rides, and Vicky's back has moved from being an ache to being pain.

My surgically corrected foot has been bothering me too.  A lot.  So I have been doing something very weird---I have been riding with a surgical boot.  It's like heaven in comparison.  The boot does not allow my foot to bend at all.  So last week we took a pair of my sneakers to a cobbler to have a steel plate inserted into the sole.  It won't bend either, and I'll look more normal.

I had an appointment with the orthopedist to get another shot in my knee, but then it started doing better so I cancelled it.  I can live with the ache.  It's not pain.

But Vicky is a different story.  Back pain is its own animal, a vicious one that thinks nothing of eating you.  And once you start having pain on a ride you not only ride more slowly but you are less inclined to get out and ride.  And then your health is affected in other ways.

The solution is a bike made specifically for comfort.  Specialized makes one that fits best for men, the Roubaix (which is what I have), and one that fits best for women, the Ruby.  Someone had fun naming it.

The Ruby is a carbon fiber bike that has shock absorbers built into the seat post and the handle bar.

We also changed from 25mm tires to 28mm tires.  The wider footprint allows one to run lower tire pressure, which also dampens road noise.  (and for a special treat, we got tubeless tires, which are virtually immune to flats).

She got the red color, which makes it fun because now it is her ruby Ruby.  It's also fun because as a young girl she did not have a bicycle, so she went door to door selling magazine subscriptions until she had sold enough of them that the company gave her a bicycle.  It was red.  She's come full circle.

We have enough time to test it out before the STP and tweak any fittings. 

Doesn't she look good on it!

Lazy spring afternoons with the girls

This spring Marina and Stella came over many afternoon after school.  And of course they wanted do crafts.  Jewelry making is always top on their list.










 The girls had painted rocks at our home before,  so one day they scrounged around our property, found some large rocks, and the painting began. The “magic garden” rock that the girls had given me had faded, so I painted with the girls and brightened up the colors.  Grandpa happily watched us from the porch.



They both painted some rocks to keep and some to give to their Dad....Father’s Day is coming up soon!




Every artist needs a break, and they had fun playing badminton.




I get a delightful hug!
 

Marina sews and Stella plays the piano

This spring was another big sewing year for Marina.  She wants to continue her sewing lessons.  Next year Stella will be old enough to start a major sewing project.  I had intended to have Marina over without Stella as we only have a small window to complete the outfit.

Stella made a loving card card for us with hearts and drawings, saying how much she “loves” to be at our home.  Then Stella asked if she could come over when Marina sewed, and she promised to “just hangout” and let me give Marina sewing lessons without interruptions.  She just melted our hearts.  Of course asked Stella to come over.

Grandpa had a great idea.  Since Stella is drawn to the piano, he would find a piano book for her and continue giving her lesson.  This was a huge success. Stella is a determined student and has a real talent with the piano.






Marina and I started on her new sewing project.  Last year she made a sleeveless dress.  This year she choose a pattern that will include buttonholes, pants, cuffs, pockets, and require some work learning how to make it fit just right.  A rather difficult and good learning project!



 













Marina sewing and Grandpa drinking wine on the back porch:



By the end of her project, Marina needed very little help from me.  She is a patient and expert seamstress.  And doesn’t she looks great in her new outfit!



Marina is happily modeling her outfit for Grandpa.



Stella spent many happy afternoons playing the piano and making beautiful jewelry.



 





Stella helping me make dinner:




Stella helped Grandpa hang our Grandchildren prayer flags in the garden.  Note the bird on the fence post:



What a wonderful time all four of us had with each other and our projects!

Project #7: New ceiling fixtures.....or why useful "instructions" went the way of the 8-track

For several of this summer's projects we have utilized "instructions."  By "instructions" we mean, "instructions."  You know, a step by step description of how to install and utilize a purchase.

I have followed instructions all of my life.  As a boy I made model cars and airplanes.  I followed the instructions.  In my home in Stillwater, Oklahoma, my bedroom was a ceiling of fighter planes shooting at each other and "flak" exploding.  I hung all of my model airplanes, and balls of cotton, from string.  In the dawn hours, when I couldn't see the strings holding the models to the ceiling, the whole ceiling was alive with a huge battle.  I loved it.

Over time, however, the art of creating good instructions has disappeared.  When you buy a computer these days you get practically nothing.  It is one reason why us older people have such difficulty with technology.  We are used to well designed instruction manuals.

About a month ago I purchased a $99 item that would, remotely, turn my router on and off.  It was a way of rebooting the router when we are traveling.  The instructions were laughably bad.  Two parts of them were screen shots that were so small that they were impossible to even make out.

I called customer service, and the very effective and friendly customer service representative spent TWO HOURS walking me through the installation.  Basically all he did was create a usable instruction manual.  The company lost serious dollars on that transaction.  Serious dollars that a usable instruction manual would have solved.

If I had a product that required an instruction manual, I would put one together, and then try it out on people who had no experience with the product.  In other words, I would test it out first.  That does not seem to be happening any longer.

We made two home improvements this weekend.  One was to assemble and install a new ceiling fan.  The old one still worked, but no longer fit the new interior of our home.

....and the instruction manual was terrible.  The worst part was that there was a significant step that was nowhere in the manual.  This was discovered after I had already installed the most difficult part of the fan.  I had to completely start at the beginning, after I figured out what I needed to do.

The instruction manual was for all of the types of ceiling fans made for this company, even though each fan is a bit different.  I discovered, by trial and error, that there were packing materials within the fan that had to be removed.  Nowhere in the instructions was there anything about this.

Somebody could create a serious money-making company these days entitled:  "Instruction Manuals for YOU!"

Anyway, here I am installing the fan.  You will notice that I am wearing a bicycle helmet.  Falls from ladders are serious business, and the main damage is done to the brain.  So, when I am on a ladder more than a few feet and working at any kind of an awkward angle I wear the helmet.  And Vicky stands below me holding the ladder and warning me of any obstacles.

The old, 1980s ceiling fan:

Me installing the new one:

The next ceiling project was to remove the fixture over the kitchen sink and install it in the great room.  The reason for this is to give more light to where we play ping pong.  At that place in the ceiling, when I bought the property, was a god-awful dining room fixture that I immediately removed and tossed.

But there was still power there.  We have a new kitchen fixture on order that will replace the one we moved from there.

Our home is a little more to our liking now.

Home projects would be so much simpler with well-designed instruction manuals for the products we purchased.  But, like 8-tracks, they seem to be a thing of the past.

We are sounding like old people, aren't we?  We are kind of the people equivalent of 8-tracks.  Sigh.



addendum:  The rest of the new light fixtures we installed a few days later.

I wish you guys had never come.......

My father used to say this at the end of every visit.  It was his way of saying that it would be so hard to see us leave.

We have had that experience twice this year.

This weekend we had our fifth annual camping trip to Lincoln Rock State Park with Jules, Jessica, Ian and Adam.  The reason for the trip is that Jules, Vicky, and I (and on one occasion one of Jules' and our friend) do the Apple Century Bike Ride.

This ride is one of our four or five favorites.  Of course, the main ride of the year is the STP (Seattle to Portland, 210 miles).  Our other favorites are the Inland Empire Ride (with Jules) and our yearly Century ride (with Jules), and the 40 mile ride around San Juan Island with a stop at Roche Harbor.

The Apple Century is lovely.......and hilly.  It begins in Wenatchee, WA, and goes several miles north of Leavenworth, WA.  Along the way you travel through apple orchards with beautiful views of the valleys and the Cascade Mountains.  This year Jules did the entire century (100 miles), and we did 80 miles.

.........and need I mention that he beat us to the finish line by at least 30 minutes even though he rode 20 more miles?  It's because he's fast and we're slow, a dynamite combination.  Here he is, on Deadman Hill, when he caught up to us and passed us (and, yes, there really is a steep steep hill called "Deadman Hill").

Here we are at the half-way point of our 80 miles:

Some shots along the way:

Along the way Vicky spotted a beautiful elk high on a hill.  Several of us stopped to look at it.

And we looked and looked, and it didn't move....and didn't move.....and didn't move.

Finally, we all came to the realization that it was a statue.  It was very realistic.  Someone has a terrific sense of humor.

We did this ride on Vicky's birthday.  So, Jessica, Jules, Ian and Adam had a party for her upon our return.  Sweet, huh?

Vicky trying to blow out the candles on her cheesecake:

Everybody laughing because they were those candles that don't blow out!

 Including Jessica who hadn't realized that she had purchased that type of candle!

Isn't that fun?  What a life.

Vicky and I took our camper:

Our plan was to stay another day and take our kayak out on the water.  But after everyone left, the weather wasn't that warm and it was windy.  We sat for a couple of hours trying to get inspired, and just felt the emptiness of them being gone.

So, we said what the heck, packed up, and went home.  Good decision.  

I wish they had never come.

The other time we felt that way this year was after our trip to Disney World with Emily, Sean, Soren, and Sebastian.  We did something similar with them---we stayed for a day after they left.  The difference was that we had Disney World to entertain us and this is where we went for our honeymoon, so we still had special day.  But I remember telling them their last night:

"I wish you guys had never come."

It's a nice feeling.  It means we would like to do it all over again.  How great is that?

Vicky's birthday: All the ice cream she wants

This year, for Vicky's birthday I did something fun for her---I bought her all of the ice cream she wanted, and all of the flavors she wanted.

And she could just eat and eat! 

Her birthday gift (the sign, not the tree)