It has been relaxing to say the least.  I have a pretty nice work load and just getting things done that need to be done.  I'd say I am taking care of everything really well.  Last week, I finished Hollywood while working the door at the Goldstar. Bukowski, I felt, was pretty appropriate.  Then I read and finished Pulp, which has been my least favorite of his books so far.  And now am well into Women.  I do no think he has any novels left once I am done with this one.  Taking up another recomendation and will be reading After the Quake by Haruki Murakami.  And generally totally slacking on a reading / discussion group I am part of.  Although, the trend seems to be that once an author dies I find there is a new found intrest on my part in their writtings.  Kurt Vonnegut is in my future.

As time flies, a week and 1/2 ago Julie and I went to DC to race the Easter Egg Hunt Alleycat put on by Spud.  Took 1st out of town and 2nd overall with Julie coming in right behind me.  This is much in part to having Tink as a guide.  More importantly though, I have not raced in a long time and my legs felt good.  Makes me a little more confident in the upcoming season.  Which, by the way, starts in a week and 1/2 with Trans-Iowa Version 3.  That will probably be the hardest ride I have ever done and I am no where near prepared.  All the same, I am not worrying about it.

This past weekend did not have grand plans, but it was filled with fun.  Friday night Henry and Ann came over for dinner.  Julie and I made Tamale Pie out of the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, which has yet to steer us wrong.  Henry and Ann brought some margarita mix, very appropriate, and we had chips and salsa before the main course.  Well, the drinks we were making were strong and the number consumed was high.  We finished one bottle of tequila and moved on to a second.  There were events that transpired that night that no one remembers.  The dishes were done and I made some weird post on a message board.  The, almost finished, bottle of mix was left in the fridge.  It was not until Sunday morning we realized the mix we were using for the already stiff drinks, had the alchohol already mixed in.  Those were som pretty good drinks.

Saturday afternoon was the second instalment of the Bandit Cross series here in town, that i am organizing.  It went really well.  I wish I would have been able to race the course.  It was fun, challanging and brutal.

But the best part of the weekend was that I got my Bianchi back with two custom made racks from Ahren who is the builder for Banjo Cycles.  They are pretty amazing.  The drive up into rural Wisconsin, which I do fairly often, always seems to give me something to look for.  Right wing wack-o religious billboards and road side crosses, the trees along the highway filled with hand tied yellow ribbons (they had to have a ladder on the side of the highway), and the crazy crap people tow and the even crazier ways they attach it to the trailer.  I am telling you people, the chain around the muffler is not going to keep the car on that traile

There are a few bad habits that I am frequently reminded of.  I tend to dismiss things sometimes and claim that I do not like them, even though I am pretty much uneduacted about them.  Most of the time, when I do this, it concerns topics of little importance.  Claiming to not like goat cheese is one of them.  At one point in my life, I could not stand the stuff.  For a long time, I would completely dismiss the oppertunity to eat it.  Then, one afternoon it was avalible and so I had some.  I would have never guessed that it would be something I now like.  I have done this with certain types of beer as well, IPA's for instance.  Well, in high school, I picked up a copy of Charles Bukowski's, Post Office.  I read maybe the first 20 pages and did not like it.  Talked with some people about Bukowski as an author and his writing style and my opinions were solidified.  For years, I have been intruiged by the layout and feel of the books on the shelf, but never even thought about reading him because of these previous notions.  Alas, for some reason I became interested again about a month ago and after fielding a suggestion from a Team Pegasus teammate, Josh, I went out bought and read Ham on Rye.  Eureka!  What honesty.  What brutality.  The hopelessness and lonleyness.  There is just something about his main characters honest assesment of the other characters that just draws me in.  There is no high action or suspense, but there is something that won't let me put it down.  His characters, who seem to be modeled alot after himself are just born to lose.  Since I have read Post Office, Factorium, and Hot Water Music.  Soon to finish The Captain is Out To Lunch... and will be starting Hollywood.  I am pretty hell bent on reading all his novels before I pick up anything else.
So, learning a few things.  I read faster when I am really enjoying it.  Much of what i was reading before was non-fiction, auto biographies, and political science stuff.  And as much as I like Machiavelli and the Prince this is a welcome change.  Also, I have always been good about keeping an open mind, but I need to remember to not allow my existing personal prejudices to stand in the way.  I have grown alot, well haven't gained a pound or grown and inch, since high school.  I am a different person, not drastically, but enough that things I may have not enjoyed years ago, may make my day now.
Have I mentioned life is wonderful right now.  The possibilities and the things to look foward to!