Nutty Squirrels

Have you ever had a squirrel dart out in front of you, as if on a suicide mission?

Of course you have. Squirrels seem to get a bizarre kick out of playing chicken with cars.

Have you ever had a squirrel dart out in front of you, as if on a suicide mission, while you were biking?

You probably have not, but I have.

I was riding through campus and there were no cars or people around (a truly strange occurrence) when this little black squirrel with a brown and black striped tail appeared on the other side of the road. He very cautiously crept across the lane starting and stopping many times as I approached. I stopped pedaling when I first saw him and was prepared for any necessary evasive maneuvers, I am familiar with their shenanigans.

This guy was stalking me.

I figured I was safe when at about 10 feet away he was stopped in the middle of my travel lane and I was a foot to the right of the white line in a "bike lane". I assumed I would just slide on by and maybe scare him to the other side of the road.

You know what happens when you assume right? You make A$$ of You and Me.

This little bugger faked left and then darted toward my front wheel. I tapped the brakes and he was within an inch of getting run over by the tire. Or more appropriately flipping me over the handlebars. Literally, if you made a vertical line from the leading edge of the tire to the ground, he was between that line and the tire. Much too close for comfort.

As the saying up North goes;
"Brake for squirrels, It could save your life"

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BANG!!!

I took DaKids for a bike ride this morning and we stopped at the Commons to listen to a storyteller/musician's performance.

It was a nice ride even though DaGirl kept chanting "faster, faster, go, go". It was the DaBoy's first time in the trailer and he did exceptionally well. It was also the first time I've used the trailer all year. I unfolded it and pumped up the tires just before we left and didn't notice any issues.

umm, yeah.

When we got home I parked the bike in front of the garage door and started taking off my helmet when I heard someone shifting in the trailer and

BANG!!!

I saw four of the biggest eyes looking at me that I have ever seen.
There was even a breeze that accompanied the exploding tire blowing dirt all over my legs.

Glad it happened in the driveway...

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They Never Cease to Amaze

Today, DaMom was out with the DaKids and when they approached a stop sign, DaGirl blurts out "Look Octagon" clear as can be!

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New Heights

DaBoy loves heights. He can't get enough of them.
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Yesterday while we were at the park, he climbed (raced up really) the ToddlerTown structure by himself and went down the slide head first. DaMom caught him just as he reached the bottom.
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Today, as I was loading up the bike for work, he pushed DaGirl's chair (with booster seat attached) over to a storage bin in the kitchen. He then climbed the storage bin and was in the process of trying to climb into her seat when I came inside and stopped him.
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Lately he's been standing at a chair (or couch, table, etc.) and lifting one leg back and out to the side. It's the funniest thing. He looks like a little ballerina limbering up.
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New Roof

So the house needed a new roof. It has needed a new roof since we moved in....8 years ago.

Finally this spring the leak above the kitchen window was bad enough that we had to do something about it. And I wasn't about to add another patch.

First, we went to the Home Show, talked with some contractors, and decided who we wanted to go with. Then some contractors came by looked things over, gave us some lip service, and headed for the hills. Despite my inquires after the initial visit in April and an assurance in May from the Office Manager, I still haven't heard from one company, AT ALL. Another company specializing in metal roofs never even bothered to give me anything other than a sales pitch.

So we bit the bullet and went with the "Largest Local Roofing Company" (LLRC). They just about own the roofing business in this town. They have 6 crews with 6 people in each, their own dumpsters and do gutters.

Now anyone who knows me personally, knows compliments and high praise don't come easy from me. It's just not me. I'm getting better at it for the kids sake but I'll never be one to write a company and tell them how good of a job they did. Which is also why I won't name names here. However these guys are almost deserving of that kind of recognition.

Here's the time line of events:
June 4th: I call the roofers for an appointment.
June 9th: The salesman comes by. He's the typical shmo salesman only younger. We make a deal that night to strip the entire roof, plywood over the main house, the kitchen and the front porch fixing any rot along the way, shingle all of that plus the garage, and new gutters everywhere (thrown in for "free").
June 19th: I call the chimney guy they recommended.
June 20th: The chimney guy comes over to look at it. We needed the entire top of the chimney pulled down 3 rows below the roof, rebuilt, and a stainless steel liner installed.
June 27th: The chimney guy does the job and hauls off the debris from the other chimney I didn't want intersecting the roof anymore. How cool is that?
June 29th: The roofers leave a message that they will be starting the roof on Wednesday the 1st.
July 1st: 7:00am Roofers start the job, dodge raindrops and leave by 1:30. The garage and kitchen are done. The rot was repaired above the kitchen.
July 2nd: 7:00am they're back!! Main house is done by 3:00. (they were caught in a downpour and had to slow down)
July 3rd: 7:00am and starting the front porch. Done roofing by noon and gutters done by mid-afternoon. By 5:00pm the entire job is done, cleaned up, and the dumpster hauled off.
July 6th: Final inspection by the Senior Supervisor of the company. He cleans up a little that they missed and fixed some bent drip edge issues I had and passes off the bill and a survey.

Holy $41T!!! They did the job in less than three days and from what I saw looked like a well oiled machine doing it. There was no BS around their coffee cups when they arrived, they just got to it. Since I've been asked at work, yes, they all spoke English.

Kudos to the Chimney Guy and the Roofers. This is proof that there are still people willing to bust their hump to get a tough job done. This is poignant because there is a house on my ride to work that has been getting it's roof done, with only sporadic progress, for over three weeks now. That house is smaller and in better shape than ours.

It took them considerably less time to do the roof than it did for me write this entry. So if you live in the "Happy Valley" and need a roof or chimney work done, I got some names for ya.

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1000+ Mlies

This morning I crossed the 1/2 way mark to my 2009 bike mileage goal.

For the curious;
The text in blue is Broken Spoke,
Text in black is Old Ironsides,
Orange ticks are notes to myself (why I didn't ride, mileage variation, or other)

I think 2k is achievable.
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