Bike Repair

My bicycle has been having real issues with making noises, cracking, clicking noises.  It really makes me nervous when I ride, even if it's just to the store.  And I can especially hear it when I don't have my earbuds in.  At least when I'm listening to music I can ignore it.

I've been reading this website @ Mountain Bike World, they have an article all about the 6 most common problems and my problem is right in there.  Yes there is a problem with the back tire not being true and it does make these clicking sounds but the cracking or creaking sound is coming from the crank, not the wheel.

I have edited 4 paragraphs to update this post.  I have figured out what my bike problem is.  I don't believe it is the crank at all.  I think that the crank needed some lube really bad so I sprayed a lot of WD-40 in it and held a towel to the bottom of it because it was getting all this black stuff all over the cement floor in my back patio.  I did that on both sides and it seems to be ok.

While I was holding the rag to the bottom of it on the side that has the chain and I was turning the crank I was looking at the cassette on the back wheel and noticed that it was moving up and down so I guess that just needs to be tightened and that should probably fix it.  So all I need are the tools to tighten the cassette which shouldn't be a problem.  So on Wednesday morning when I get my check I'll take the bus to the bike store and ask them for the tools to tighten it.  It's good to have all the tools I need to do any/all maintenance on the bike to keep it in good working order at all times.

At least I don't have to pay hundreds of dollars to get it fixed now.

Bicycle Tire PSI

I don't know what's wrong with me.  I've had bicycles since I was a kid and I've always had to fill them with air when they get low and I've never had an issue with following directions when it comes to how much PSI to put in them.  I've only been putting 20 PSI in my tires.  It clearly says on there 40 MINIMUM!  LOL I don't know why I've only been putting 20 in.

I think it goes back to when I first got this bike, I bought a pump but the tire gauge that I have meant for a car wasn't worth didley because it was saying that it was too low then I would pump too much air in the tire and pop it.  So when I first started riding again last year I bought a new pump with a gauge on it and for some strange reason was only putting in 20.  Well, I think 2 weeks ago I started putting in 30 but it still wasn't enough.  And during my ride it goes down from 30 back to 20!  UGH!

Ok so I've put 40 in both and so in the morning hopefully they are still at 40 lol.  The night I started putting 30 in I woke up the next day to ride and it was completely flat.

Oh and my back tire isn't true either, it's wobbly.  I don't think it's bent though but I am going to have to buy the tools to tighten the cassette because I think it's loose.  I've been hearing/feeling this clicking that is concerning me.  So I need the tools to tighten the cassette and a spokes tool to tighten those too because I think they might be the reason it's not true.

I hate having to spend so much money on such a cheap Walmart bike hehe.  If it were an expensive bike then fine, no problem, bring on the expense of tools but it's not.  With all the money I've spent on tools just to maintain this stupid bike I could've bought another one.  Then again I wouldn't be able to maintain that one either lol.

Kitty Grave Stone (wood)

Well I finished making it and I wanted to share it.  It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be.  See my previous post with the template. I had this piece of wood so all I did was traced the cat, words, numbers and the paw print then started doing it.  This was one of the easiest things I have made to date.  I thought that making a Ouija Board would be so difficult but now I know different and as soon as I have that made then perhaps I can use it to talk to my Shanaynay.

Well here it is.  It needs to be stained and have the stuff to protect it from the rain and the elements and from rotting on top of the ground.  Although I may put a stake in the ground and then screw this to the stake to make it look like a cross.

Click to see it full size

Rest In Peace Kitty

This morning my cat Shanaynay passed away.  I don't know the exact time but it was between 6:30am and 8am.  On Memorial Day no less.  So every Memorial Day I will remember her.  She was born some time in October 1994.  I couldn't narrow down the exact date so I gave her October 31st for her birthday.  She passed away at age 14 1/2.

She was the best kitty anyone could ever hope for.  The day we got her I was actually in bed sleeping and I woke up and saw this little tiny kitten sitting there on the bed and the first thing that I said was awwwww.  Here are some pictures that we took of her the first month we had her.  Click the small thumbnails to open them up full size.



When she was around 6 months old she started her howling thing because she was going into heat for the first time so we had to have her fixed.  It was so funny to hear her howl but that was the first and last time she had to go through that for the rest of her life.

Some of the memories I have of her are from when I would change the sheets on the bed, she would jump up and she would do her little dance where she would pounce sideways with her ears back and her head cocked to the side.  She also did not like her mirror reflection and she would do the same thing but to the mirror.

There was another thing that she used to do where I'd like have her face in my hand and she would kick and scratch my arm with her back feet.  It didn't hurt as much though but she loved to play.

Over the years she calmed down and stopped wanting to play and just became a very calm kitty.  She didn't like to have another animal in the house besides herself so we could never have any more cats or even a dog.  Then one day Chip found a little kitten inside of a box in the middle of the street.  We took care of her and gradually let the 2 of them see each other until they were living peacefully in the same house.

This picture was actually forced upon her, she did not like that at all lol.  I had to take the picture as fast as I possibly could.  That other kitty we never did name her but the Vet named her Baby when she passed away.

Then we got Flower last year, our Toy Chihuahua.  Shanaynay didn't care.  The dog was a little too rambunctious for her though and she would scratch Flower when she got too playful.

Shanaynay mostly lived inside of our indoor patio.  It gave her the feeling of being outdoors while keeping her inside so she was happy.

She was diagnosed with Diabetes 2 1/2 years ago and we were told that she wouldn't live very long if we didn't give her insulin shots but they wanted so much money for the blood tests and then we'd have to pay for the insulin.  I think the dollar amount was like $600 the vet said for the tests.  I was ready to have her put to sleep then but Chip said no, let's give her a chance to die on her own.

I ended up changing her diet and instead of giving her the dry food which I believe was the Whiskas and the Friskies, I started giving her the canned Friskies and she did a 180.  She was walking on the back of her legs instead of her feet and when I switched her food she started walking normal again.  She didn't stop drinking like a sailor and peeing a lot though but at least her legs were fine.

But I end this by saying that she was my favorite pet in the whole world and there is no other person or animal who could ever take her place.  I love you Shanaynay.  Take care of yourself wherever you are.

Edit:  Thanks to my friend Alyce for buying me the wood burning kit I have the tools to make a little grave stone (or grave wood).  Here is what it's going to look like.

So much for that idea...

Yesterday I was bad an ate a burrito and an apple empanada from Taco Bell.  It was the .99 cent burrito and I figured it was ok since I'm now riding 5 days a week.  I was going to up it to 7 days a week and I was kinda thinking about how important it was that I ride today to burn off that bad idea lol.

So I got up this morning at 4:30am as usual, by 5am I was in the patio getting my bike and it felt a little strange.  The back tire was totally flat.  I noticed yesterday that it kept getting low for some reason, I had to pump it up twice during my ride.  So I just went back to bed and figured today is a wash, I'll probably have to get a new tube.

When I woke up I got up and went out there to take off the tube so I can at least seal the hole.  After all it is the kind of tube with the green slime inside of it so it's supposed to seal itself and I guess it did because I put it in a bucket of water (pumped up) and there were no air bubbles.  So I put it back on and pumped it back up.  It's sitting upside down in my back yard right now so I can keep squeezing it to make sure it's still pumped up lol.

Tonight I'm going to check on it again to see if it's still pumped up or not.  If not then I'll just have to get a new tube tomorrow and figure that today and tomorrow are days off and I'll have to ride 5 days in a row.  I would like to go buy a new tube anyway just to have a spare on hand.  I had a spare but this guy that we know named Brazil came to our house the day I had my accident, he wanted to borrow my bike for awhile so he can get to work cause he got a new job and I told him about my accident.  He said he had a flat tire and I said well that's no problem, I have a spare tube you can have lol.  So now I need another spare tube.

I also need a new head light anyway so I want to at least get to the .99 cent store while we're out and get a new one.  They are cheap and take batteries but I need them as backup because my generator is screwing up and it's making it very difficult for me to ride and feel safe.  I'm mainly afraid I'm going to get a ticket if my back light goes out during the ride or if my head light isn't bright enough too.  So I need new ones.  And $1 is better than paying $15 or $20 for the same exact thing.

Our Cat Is Dying

Our cat Shanaynay is dying.  She isn't walking normal, in fact she is staggering and I saw her getting out of her litter box, she fell out onto her butt.  She has litter stuck to her butt and her tail and it's already hardened and she gets mad at me when I try to help her get it off.  Her meow isn't as pronounced as before, meaning it's shallow.  She has to take deep breaths.  Also she is so skinny now, you can feel her bones when you touch her.  She isn't eating at all.  I recall refilling her food bowl days ago and she has barely even touched it.

I just saw her drinking some water so at least she's able to drink.  We can't afford to have her put to sleep so all we can do is wait and keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't fall off the table (like a coffee table, she sleeps on it) or falls out of her litter box (which I moved closer to where she sleeps).

My Aunt Louise bought our cat this little thing that it's like a tube with a hole cut on the side and it's carpeted, you know what I mean.  Anyway, I put that next to the table where she is sleeping right now so she can use it as a step to get on and off the table.

She is a 14 year old cat.  Well, 14 1/2.  Chip got her when she was 8 or 9 weeks old and since we didn't know her exact birthdate I estimated that it would've been some time in October so I decided that her birthday should be on Halloween 1994.  So considering that she is so old we have been expecting this to happen for quite some time.  Even though it's been expected, it doesn't make it easy.

Anyway, I will add to this post if she passes today.

Muscles Used To Riding

Since I started riding the bike in the early morning before the sun comes up to escape the heat, I've noticed that my muscles are already used to riding the bike so I don't have to ride every other day to rest my muscles.  I can ride everyday if I want to.  In fact, I rode for 3 days in a row.  Well, mainly that was to burn off some burgers and fries I ate lol.

But, I have no problem riding the bike anymore at all.  It's like my muscles are back to the way they were when I was a kid, that's how used to riding I am now.

I seem to recall last year when I started riding my bike again, when I first found out about the bike trail after summer was over from one of those city park summer guides, in the back it has a map of the bike trail.  So I got the bike out of moth balls, filled the tires, actually I had to buy a new tube for the front tire because it had a hole in it that I couldn't repair with the new tire repair kit I had bought lol.  Anyway, I started riding and my legs were so not used to it and I would get down to H and 3rd and my legs were already tired and it was just 1 block away from my house lol.

So I would ride all the way to California and H and I was like screw this, I'm going back home and that whole trip was 1 mile lol.  Then when I got home my legs were so stiff from riding that 1 mile that I could barely even walk in the back door.  I had to sit and rest and I had to massage my thighs because they were just in so much pain from that pitiful ride lol.

I think I was riding like that for a week before I was finally able to go maybe 3 miles then went up to 4 then 5 which altogether took about a month before I was even able to get on the bike trail.

By the time I was finally riding the bike trail I could only go so far before I had to turn around and go back but eventually I was able to do 11 miles per day which was a little over an hour.

Now, I can do that 11 miles in just 55 minutes so I have to step up my ride and go further and go 16 miles just to make up my time which is about 1 hour and 16 minutes.  But that 16 miles to me now is no biggy.

Early To Bed, Early To Ride

I've been going to bed relatively early every night like 9 or 10pm which is odd for me because I'm usually up until like 1am but I'm making an effort to beat the heat to ride the bike to get my exercise.

It's actually not that hard getting used to waking up at 4:30 in the morning and leaving by 5am and back around 7am.

It's really nice being out there that early though because it's in the 60's or 70's at 5am, there is no sun yet so the city hasn't had a chance to get hot yet.  By the time I get home it's still nice out even though the sun has been out for at least 45 minutes by that time.

I think that it's going to be easy to get my exercise done and over with by going so early every day.  I just need to learn to take naps during the day to catch up.

Early Morning Bike Ride

Well, I did it.  I set the alarm clock for 4am and of course had to push the snooze and when it went off again in 10 minutes I decided ok, I need to do this, I need to wake up and get ready.  So I got up, went and got a bowl of raisin bran cereal.  I read my emails which weren't that many since the last time I read them last night lol.

I like to eat then wait 30 minutes to go, so 4:45am came and I left the house and it was pitch black outside.  Thank goodness for bike lights.  Although I didn't realize until I got there that the back light wasn't working at all.  It wasn't until the sun came out that I realized that it was because the wire snapped off.  UGH!  It's easily repairable.

What I especially liked about riding that early is that there are absolutely no cars.  0 cars.  Well, there were a couple but none that I had to worry about.  Of course being that early I had to stop and push the walk button because certain lights just won't turn green unless the sensors detect a car sitting there and they don't detect bicycles.

While I was on the bike trail that early in the morning before the sun came up there were no other riders which isn't odd for me not to see anyone because in the daytime there are barely any other riders.  So it really didn't make much of a difference.  But when the sun did start coming up I did start to see a couple riders.

Even coming home with the sun up at 6am there still weren't any cars.  I finally got home at 6:22am so I was gone about an hour and half but my total time was 1 hour 5 min.  Hey, I have to take a break during my ride lol.

Now that my muscles are getting used to riding I'm gonna experiment with going out again tomorrow and then the day after that.  I want to go out every day, not just every other day.  I want to get as much exercise in as I can because the weight is coming off.  So, we will see tomorrow if I go out or not hehe.

The Direction of Smallville

I've been a huge fan of Smallville since it aired in 2001.  I've always been a huge Superman fan, movies and comic books.  I wasn't a super freak comic book reader so I don't know every line from every comic book ever published.  Truth be told I've probably only read a dozen in my childhood.  At some point the comic books ended because "I was too old for them" according to my parents.

I loved the old black and white series with George Reeves from 1952, I was too young to ever see it back then but it did air in the 70's along with other black and white shows from the 50's and 60's.

When Lois and Clark came out I wanted to see it but I was always working at night and so I never had any time for any TV shows.  I didn't have a VCR to record anything and I probably wouldn't have had any time to see them the next morning anyway.  I did see an episode here and there and thought that it wasn't exactly true to the story.  I mean, Jonathan Kent was still alive?  And Lois and Clark were married and living together?  So, I wasn't that into it anyway because I like shows that are true to the story the way the story was written you know?

So when Smallville came out I was super excited about it and I've watched it faithfully from the very first episode, never missing 1 episode.  But, I've been real concerned with the show.  OK, I like Chloe and Pete even though I'd never heard of those 2 characters before.  I wasn't too sure about Clark knowing Lex before he became Superman because that's pretty much when he meets Lex.  What has concerned me all this time is the lack of glasses.  He wore glasses in 1 episode, that's it.

Also, this whole thing with him dating Lana, when did that ever happen?  And she is wearing a suit of his powers but they can never see each other again because of the kryptonite infecting the suit now?  WHAT?

And, didn't he meet Lois when he first went to work for the Daily Planet?  In Smallville she lives with him and his parents using his bedroom and making him sleep on the couch or in the loft?  Oh and... the loft?  (this was after a couple seasons that I am referring to)

Oh and when did Jonathan Kent ever become a senator in this story?  The only "true to the story" thing about him is that he died at the appropriate time, although he should've been an old man but that's ok.  He still died at the age Clark was in the first movie.  But what confuses me is that Martha takes over his office and is senator then next season she's living in Washington lol.

What is raising some concern with me is that in all these seasons Clark has never learned how to fly.  Why is that?  Why are the writers resisting him ever finishing his training in the fortress which is now BLACK!  UGH!  Come on Smallville writers, what are you doing to this good show?

And where is his costume?  Shouldn't he be wearing it about now?  In the movie when he first started working for the daily planet he was wearing a costume.  There were so many episodes where they referred to the tights and cape, even Lois said that a psychic said that she was destined to be with a guy wearing tights and a cape.  Plus there was that episode with the green arrow, Oliver, wearing the red cape going from 1 building to the next to show that Clark wasn't the red blue blur.

This show is just getting more ridiculous every time I see it.  Don't get me wrong, I'm hooked but it's going so far off track.  Oh, Lex is DEAD?  Jimmy Olsen is DEAD?!?!?  WHAT!  Are you kidding me?  I guess to be fair, at the end of the season finale they showed that strange orb thing in the back of the mansion with a naked bald man, that kinda makes me think that Lex has come back to life.  And then at Jimmy's funeral they show this little boy and Chloe gives him Jimmy's camera and he's wearing a bow tie.  So what, is he the future of Jimmy Olsen?  His last name may be Olsen but what's his first name?  They said that Jimmy's name was Henry James Olsen so is this little kid James Olsen?  That character isn't even credited in IMDB so I couldn't find out what his name was (character name).

I'm just sayin to please be a little more true to the story in the next season.  I know there will be another season because they left too many unresolved issues and it didn't say Series finale, it said Season finale.  So I know it's not over.

Pedals, Mirrors and Shorts

Well I just came home from Snider's Cyclry.  I bought brand new pedals that are metal, not the cheap metal ones either that cost $7.  No these were $20 and they are a lot heavier than the cheap ones.  Weight on a bike is a huge issue but when it comes to something like that you need them to be as sturdy as possible for standing up on.  That's why the pedals that came with the bike are breaking, from having 230lbs of weight standing on them.

I also bought a helmet mirror.  When I was trying to put it on, I was having a hell of a time finding a good spot because the mirror isn't that adjustable that I can just put it anywhere I want to.  I wanted it to stick to the plastic on the outside but the arm on it is so tiny that it had to be on the Styrofoam part in front of my face.  I finally found the perfect spot for it and stuck it on.  I had to go stand outside on the sidewalk, or more in the street, more the gutter really to be sure it was right.  It was so I stuck it on and then looked again without my arm being in the way.  The only problem is I have to look up with my eyes to see it.  That kinda hurts my eyes lol.  So for tomorrow mornings ride (at 4:30am that is) I'm going to bring both mirrors so I can see which one is better.  Who knows, I might need both.

I went to the thrift store before I went to the bus stop to look for shorts and to see if they had any bike shirts at all which they didn't.  I picked out 2 pairs of shorts but they were so big and I went to hold them up to myself to see if they would fit but wasn't quite sure.  They don't have any dressing rooms there so you have to look at sizes and hold them up to yourself lol.  So annoying.  Anyway, I just took them to the register and figured if it's too tight, it will fit me eventually lol.  One of them was $7 but the tag says $2 and I said well forget it then.  I know they have to charge the lower price, well, I know that applies to everywhere else you go lol but apparently not there.  I said forget it because I didn't really like them anyway.  So I got 1 pair of shorts with a Hawaiian print on it.  It was only $2.  It's a bit tight but... it will fit me eventually lol.

Big Brother Deleted

I've deleted all my past Big Brother posts from Big Brother 9 and 10.  They aren't relevant anymore.  I'm probably not going to be able to watch Big Brother 11 this summer because of my new sleeping schedule for the bike rides at 4am because I'm probably going to be going to sleep at 8pm lol.

I might end up recording Big Brother the nights they are on and then just record After Dark from 12am to 3am every night.  Who knows.  I might not like the new house guests and just not watch it at all.  I'll know after the first couple of episodes.

I do want to watch it but at the same time I have other summer shows that I watch so I'm gonna need to be able to record those too.  But no matter what I decide to do, I'm probably not going to blog about it this time around.

Awake Early, Too Early

I woke up at around 4:15am this morning.  I tried going back to sleep but it was a no go.  It's now 1 hour later and I'm wide awake.  I think this is a good thing though.  I'm going to use this opportunity to get my body used to waking up early for summer bike riding.

It's not hot outside yet (even though my bedroom is hot) but I can see on this weeks forecast that it's going to be in the 100's this week.  99° today, 103° tomorrow, 101° on Monday then Tuesday and Wednesday are like 93° and 94°.

Right now it's a nice 63° out but this is the perfect time to go riding.  Today however is not a riding day.  No, instead I'm going to take the bus this morning to the bike store to get some new pedals.  While I'm there I'm going to see how much it would cost for a rack and if they have the grocery bags, if not then that's fine, I will just get them from Nashbar.  I may just get the rack from nashbar too if they are the same price as Snider's.

While I'm out I'm going to see if the thrift store has any bike shorts.  I doubt it but you never know.  But I do need some other shorts to go on my ride with.  I have 3 pairs of shorts that fit me but they all have their faults.  One pair rubs against my knees, another pair is too light (it's beige) and get dirty fast and the 3rd pair is just too freakishly big and will only stay on with a belt.

We have like maybe 10 more pairs of shorts but they fit me like 10 years ago (some 2 years ago) so they are obviously too small.  I will eventually fit back into them as I lose weight but for now I have no options.  I need to find at least 3 pair of black shorts that fit me that I can wear on the bike that aren't too long, aren't too wide and aren't too white lol.

UGH!  I'm starving so I'm gonna go get breakfast, make some coffee and start my day.  I'm thinking about just buying the things I need on nashbars website instead of going to the bike store.  Although, I still need pedals before tomorrow when I plan on riding again.

Going Faster

Today I rode the bike 12.6mph (average speed over 1 hour) which was totally unintentional.  When I first started riding the bike (or when I got my bike computer) my average speed was 10.7 then it gradually went up to 11.1 then 11.4 then 11.9.  It goes up and down every day so it's not always the same but recently I've noticed my average speed as high as 12.1 and up and today 12.6.

As I said it's totally unintentional.  I'm not paying attention to my average speed while I'm riding.  I'm not even paying any attention to the bike computer at all.  I'm just in my own little world listening to music.  But the faster I go the more calories I burn according to the bicycle computer.  That right there helps me lose this weight.

PSP-4000 Rumors

I've been reading rumors of a new version of the PSP coming summer 2009.  It allegedly has a sliding screen and when you slide the screen it reveals the buttons for playing the games.  It has no UMD drive so all of your UMD games are now useless.  It basically will be download your games to memory sticks only.

I really don't see how that's going to make it better.  I mean, I've spent a lot of money on games, why should I lose all of them and possibly even be forced to buy them all over again to put on the memory stick to play on this thing?

And why sliding screen?  The only good I can see for that is watching movies or tv shows which I never even do.  I don't have any movie UMD's and I don't buy movies/tv shows from the PlayStation store.  I just don't see how a sliding screen is going to be any better than it is now.

No thanks.  I'm going to just stick with my PSP-2000.  I didn't upgrade from the 2000 to the 3000 when that came out because the only changes that it had were the matte screen to make it easier to see in the sunlight and there are less finger prints and the mic hole which I don't need since I already paid the $30 for the Skype headset.

If the 4000 version has no UMD slot then it's useless to me.  No point in upgrading for me.

The thing I would like to see in future handheld gaming devices is perhaps a pair of sunglasses like my bicycle sunglasses that wrap around so you don't see any sunlight at all but it has earplugs attached to the arms and it has a screen on the lenses then it has a wireless game pad that has all the PlayStation controls so I can play games and nobody will know what I'm playing or I can watch movies and nobody can see what it is.  Am I watching Spider Man or am I watching a porno?  You will never know.  Well, I guess if my pants are down you pretty much already know.  Especially when the bus driver kicks me off the bus and I'm in handcuffs.

Progress Finally

I'm finally seeing some progress with my diet and exercise regimen.  For breakfast I measure 1 cup of cereal, raisin bran, then for lunch I have a slim fast shake then for dinner it's usually a salad which is a pretty good salad with that salad mix that you can buy in bags, then I add a hard boiled egg chopped up, 1/3 of a can of tuna, half a celery cut into pieces, sliced and peeled cucumber, to add more flavor I add a tiny bit of bacon bits and some sunflower seed nuts meant for salads and then top it off with some ranch dressing.

Yeah OK, some might say that the bacon bits, sunflower nuts and ranch don't help but guess what?  I'm losing weight.  I mean come on, you can't take that away from me.  If I wasn't having any progress then fine, I'd remove the bacon bits and sunflower nuts but there ain't no way I'm gonna give up the ranch dressing because I absolutely hate that oil and vinegar douche crap.

The first 3 weeks I was riding my bike I wasn't losing any weight at all because I was being sabotaged.  Yeah yeah yeah, I know, you can't blame anyone but yourself right?  Well, Chip took me to taco bell when he got one of his checks then the next day we went to Hometown Buffet then we went to China town buffet because friends from San Diego came to visit then he took me to Hometown Buffet again.  I was like enough with the buffets and taco bell.

So then my 4th week I lost 5lbs because I stopped eating crap and started taking things more seriously.  I wasted 3 weeks of hard work riding my bike, that's how I feel.  The 4th week I lost and now that I'm continuing to take it seriously I'm still losing weight.

This Friday, in 2 days, I'm going to weigh in again and I'm going to be very happy because I know that I'm going to drop at least another 5lbs.

Oh I also forgot to add that I eat a lot of bananas and I eat 1 energy bar the day I ride the bike which is usually halfway through my ride.  I typically only ride 3 or 4 days a week and it's usually only 1 hour per ride.  But as I lose more and more weight the bike will be easier to ride because I will be lighter so I will be able to ride longer than just 1 hour per ride.  Maybe at least 1 1/2 hour or who knows, maybe when I'm 200lbs I will be riding 2 hours per ride.  I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

Bike Wash

I decided that today I would wash my bike.  When I was at the store I bought some Dawn dish soap because it's better at cutting grease than any other soap that I've used.  So I put some in a big bowl and grabbed a cleaning brush, it looks like a very very big tooth brush but it's not.

I scrubbed and scrubbed every thing that was dirty and then I put some WD-40 on it so it wouldn't give me any problems.  Then after that I started screwing everything that I thought needs to be screwed.

I do need some new peddles though.  The right peddle is breaking so it's going to be no good soon and I won't be able to ride it at all until I get some new ones.  The peddles that came with it are hard plastic so you have to expect that.  I'm going to get some metal ones that look the same but aren't plastic.  And the reflectors keep slipping out of the right one too so that could pose problems.  Good thing I don't ride at night.

I also adjusted the generator for the lights so it's not on the top of the tire which provides more resistance when I'm riding.  I made it so it touches the metal wheel instead.  That's actually the way it's supposed to be but the directions said I could put it on either way.  I just never changed it until now.

The Pork Flu

Hunger Pangs

Yesterday and today were Chips days off so I didn't ride the bike the entire weekend.  I thought my body was getting used to the new diet or the new portions, in fact it was doing pretty good.  So I was a little confused today when I had my slim fast shake at 11:45am, I was really getting hungry.  But then at 1:45pm the hunger pangs came back with a vengeance.

For the last couple of weeks that I've been on the slim fast and measuring my portions my hunger pangs haven't been bothering me so I don't know why today.

I decided that I couldn't wait until 6pm to eat so I just ate an energy bar, a Tiger's Milk bar.  But then Chip said hey let's go to the store and get some steak for dinner to BBQ.  So we went and even got some salad stuff and a can of beans because what's a BBQ without beans and salad?

Unfortunately he couldn't wait for 6pm since he didn't even eat any lunch so we ate at 3pm lol.  Which was ok for my stomach I guess but then when 6pm came around I started getting hungry again grrrr.  And now, it's just turning 11pm and guess what?

Well, I gotta take an ambien anyway to get me to sleep, I can't sleep without it because the BiPap mask keeps me awake so I gotta take a pill to be able to fall asleep with that thing.  The Ambien doesn't really work without food so I'll eat a banana, that should work.

I'm out of cereal so tomorrow morning I'm going to just have a slim fast shake.  I wanted to limit myself to 1 shake per day or if I had a very light dinner then just add the shake.  If you haven't noticed, Slim Fast is expensive lol.  So that's ok, I can actually have a shake for breakfast and then later tomorrow buy some more Raisin Bran cereal for breakfast the next day.

ChessMaster Game for PSP

I bought this game yesterday but only did the tutorial which was more of a lesson, telling you how each piece moves.  It was a lot to take in all at once.  Today I tried a practice game but I was stumped.  I didn't really know what to do.  If you press the button with the square on it then it gives you a hint to show you where to go.  I kept losing so I started using the hints and I would've never even thought to do the moves that it was suggesting and after about 15 minutes I still lost lol.

Chess really is a game that you need a giant brain to play.  I don't know how the people on Big Brother are able to wrap their brain around it because some of them aren't very bright lol.  Apparently they are smarter than I am lol.  Unless they are just winging it to pass the time.  That's my guess.

The whole reason I've been wanting to buy this game was so I could learn so I would have a reason to build that gothic chess set but I do realize that it would cost me at least $300 to build it.  It's not really that worth it lol.  Oh well.

Edit: I calculated the cost of all the molds for making this gothic chess set.  It's $199 just for the molds.  Then the chess pieces total to $57.42 and the pawns are $54.96.  Total for all of that is $311.38.  That doesn't even include shipping and the expensive cement that you mix to pour into the molds, the glue and the paint.  I bet you are looking at probably over $400 to make the gothic chess set.  LOL Way too much money.  You have to be really dedicated to chess to want to make this.

2 New PSP Games

Ok well earlier I said we were going to service the cooler then go to the mall to see Star Trek, then back to the mall to get games from Game Stop then probably eat.  Well, 2 out of 4 ain't bad right?

We serviced the cooler and the tenants didn't even bother to turn it on and left their a/c units running lol.

We went to the mall and it was packed tighter than my package in bicycle shorts.  We finally found a spot then went in and I come out with 2 used games.  Actually 1 was new but it was on special clearance for $9.99.  "Chess master The Art of Learning"  The other one is called "Dungeon Maker 2: The Hidden War".

I've wanted the chess master game forever to learn how to play that stupid game since everyone who is 5 years old that can play better than me.  Anyway, so now this gives me the opportunity to learn and maybe teach chip then we can get a chess set to play with.

I actually want to make one.  I've wanted to make this since I first saw it.  Here is the link for it: The Ghothic Chess Set. I think that would be so much fun to make and the chess pieces are going to be so awesome.  EXPENSIVE but awesome lol.

Cooler, Movies, Mall, Video Games...

We got our day planned out.  First we gotta go borrow the ladder from the store next door to our house so we can service the tenants cooler, well, I'll be changing the cooler pads while Chip is cleaning the cooler on the ladder.  I hate heights.

Then we're gonna go to the mall and go see the new Star Trek movie.  Then when that's over we're probably going to go back to the mall to eat.

The most important thing is that I got a $25 Game Stop card so I'm going to pick out 2 used games.  I'm sure it will go over, that's ok, I'll just pay the difference.

I hope I get 2 good games.  Since there are 2 game stops in the mall I'm probably going to have to look in 1 to see what they have then go to the other to see what they have before I make my final decision.  It's a process lol.

Gruber Assist Electric Bike

Ok, this is new.  This easily adds the ability to turn your bicycle into an electric bicycle and nobody will ever know.  Here is the link to the dvice article:

Gruber Assist electric bike:  Only your cycle mechanic will know for sure

The kit will cost you an arm and a leg or if you have money it will cost a mere $2,473.  But if you are trying to cheat in a race then it will pay off.  Nobody will ever even know.  That is until they hear your bicycle because it does have some noise.  Watch the video in the Dvice website.

You have the option of turning it on and off so you aren't always using it.  So perhaps when there are no other riders around you can turn it on, speed up to get ahead then when someone shows up turn it off so they won't suspect anything hehe.  Personally this would help me get to the bike trail faster then I can go much further and get more exercise done.  Then when I go home I can just coast along.  The battery lasts like an hour to an hour and half so that wouldn't be too difficult.

But... no money hehe.

I said NO... well, sorta

Wow, this diet must be really messing with my head because I said no to Taco Bell today.

I went to the grocery store before Chip came home to buy him some fried chicken and macaroni salad and I also bought him some macaroni and cheese just in case he wanted it.  I also bought some salad stuff for myself.  But when Chip came home from work he was carrying a Taco Bell bag.  UGH!

So we went in the house and he had 3 of those .99 cent double beefy cheesy burritos or whatever they are called and a .99 caramel apple empanada.  I was going to say no thanks to them all but I just couldn't.  I only ate 1 burrito and the empanada.  I did say no to the other 2 burritos though.

Well, technically I didn't say no, I put them in the fridge.  I'm sure he will end up eating them but that's ok.  I'm ok if he does.

In order for me to be successful with my weight loss I have to say no as much as possible.  I don't think 1 burrito and an empanada (which is an apple pie) is going to hurt me though.  But tomorrow I'm definitely going to eat a salad and hope that he ate all my burritos hehe.

He isn't working tomorrow so he can have the burrito's for lunch and the fried chicken for dinner (or vice versa) and I'll just eat my diet foods/shakes.

New Amazon Kindle DX Coming This Summer

Amazon has announced their new Kindle DX which will ship this summer.  It's new features are a 9.7 inch screen that measures 8.5"x11" so it's the size of a sheet of paper.  Also when you turn the Kindle DX sideways the screen auto rotates very much like the iPhone.  They have also added more hard drive bringing it to 4GB.

Those are some pretty cool features, except that it still is not in color and it still doesn't have an SD card slot.  AND the price went up from $359 for the Kindle 1 and 2 to $489 for the Kindle DX.

WOW that's just too much money to spend on something that's just going to be outdone in another 6 months or so.  When they have their 4th generation Kindle is that going to go up to $600?  So what do people do with their old ones?  Recycle them?  Ebay them?  Or do they just live with it and feel stupid for wasting their money when they could've waited 6 months?

I'm going to wait.

Preoccupied

I haven't been blogging the last few days but I'm still here.  It's unusual for me not to blog since I typically blog 1-5 times daily lol.  But I've been preoccupied with other things.

We just had new tenants move in on May 1st and so I helped them carry boxes in the house from the U-Haul truck and I've been watching TV.  Catching up on Stargate SG-1 on Sci Fi as usual.

I have noticed some weight loss thanks to my new way of thinking about eating and stuff.  Before I was just riding hoping that would be enough to lose the weight considering I lost nearly 20lbs last year with exercise alone.  It doesn't seem to be enough now so I've been measuring my food and drinking slim fast for lunch too.

I'm afraid of talking about my progress because it seems to never fail, I talk about how much I've lost then the weight loss stops completely then I plateau for a couple months before I give up.

About maybe 5 years ago I was eating nothing but salads and snacking on sliced cucumbers and baby carrots and I remember I was 212lbs and then one day after about 2 or 3 months of this diet I decided to weigh myself and I was 172lbs.  Well from that day forward the weight stayed the same, it just stopped then I got frustrated because I plateaued then gave up and the weight came back almost as fast as it left. That's because I started bragging about how I lost the weight.

All I'm going to say is that I'm working on it.  I've decided that by not talking about it I'm not bragging about it and if/when people come up to me and tell me OMG you've lost so much weight I'm just going to say thanks and move on from there.

As long as I'm eating right and not over eating and exercising I think I'm going to do good and lose the weight I need/want to lose then I can get back on with my life.  But not talking about it lol.

Weight Loss

I'm going to be brief because I just took an ambien about 30 minutes ago and it's kicking in.

Yesterday and today I've been following a new way of eating.  Muffin for breakfast (today bran muffin yuck hehe) and slim fast shake for lunch then whatever for dinner.  Tonight we went to Young's grocery store and got the Chinese food but only ate half of it.  I'm saving the rest for tomorrow nights dinner.

So far a couple lbs lost.  Tomorrow I'm going to ride the bike with this diet and we'll see how it goes as far as how hungry I will be and how much energy I have from taking Slim Fast Optima.  We will see.

Will The New Diet Stick?

Yesterday I went to the grocery store and bought about 10 power bars and 4 tigers milk bars for my bike rides so that should last me awhile.  Well, at least 14 rides anyway.  Actually that should last me the whole month since I ride 3 days a week.  Plus I bought 2 cans of Slim Fast Ultima.

I also bought a box of muffins because they were reduced for quick sale.  It had 2 bran muffins and 2 blueberry muffins.  I ate 1 blueberry muffin for breakfast and a slim fast shake for lunch then nothing all day until dinner time and we went to Que Pasa for dinner where I had a 2 item combo, beef Enchilada and beef burrito with rice and beans on the plate.  Then with my ambien I had a banana.  Food helps the ambien kick in faster.

It seems to have done some good for me because I've finally noticed some weight loss on the scale.

While I was at the store yesterday I bought 2 bags of the salad mix so when dinner rolls around I can eat some salad instead of the usual pasta or pizzas that we eat.

It's time for me to start taking responsibility for what I eat and just say no when confronted with certain foods that I like.  I REALLY want to lose this weight but at the same time all this food is coming at me left and right, sometimes I just can't say no.

I was going to ride today but my theighs are just in so much agony so I'm going to just stay home.  Our new tenant moved in yesterday and I'm going to help them with the rest of the heavy stuff in the U-Haul.  It rained yesterday from about 3pm until late last night but the street seems to be dry as a bone now.  I was going to use that as my excuse for not riding but frankly I can't lol.  I'm just going to say that my legs are tired, I'll do it tomorrow.