A few days have passed since my last entry and it is time to get a couple items off my chest.
Angelina Jolie, we do not care that you are adopting another freaking foreign kid. What's the problem? Is a little American kid not politically correct enough for you? Would that make you uncool in Hollywood's eyes? Go raise your kids and give us a break.
And another thing. To the St Louis public high school students who refused to leave the Mayor's office until they met with the Mayor about the district's accreditation. Shut up and go to school! You have no say in the matter. You are nothing but dumb kids with an out of control sense of self-importance. Besides, most of your demands of the Mayor are things he has no control over. If you and the rest of your fellow classmates would show this much concern for your studies all the time, then maybe the district wouldn't be losing it's accreditation. If I were the Mayor you would have had your asses arrested for trespassing. There would have been some real whining when that happened.
Okay, that feels better.
Tuesday Night Worlds began, oddly enough, this past Tuesday. While at work I had no desire to go race but I went anyway. Once a race starts you can't help but try a little so that you don't embarrass yourself by getting lapped four times.
The winds were rather strong but not brutal and didn't seem to cause too much damage in the pack. I spent most of the race getting reacquainted with the course and finding out what felt comfortable. With a little over a lap to go I gave a little dig up and over the hill to the first turn in order to bridge up to a couple riders off the front. That effort popped me but I was just testing myself a little. Giuseppe was part of about 4 others that trailed me. While I peeled off, he continued on and they held of the late charge of the pack.
Older news:
During last Sunday's hill ride in Jeffco, Giuseppe asked what the grade was on the steep section of Franks Rd. I knew it was 12.something%, but couldn't recall exactly. He felt it was steeper. So, yesterday I consulted the route I entered on Routeslip and did some more calculations. Here are my findings:
From the right hand bend shortly after the pet cemetery up to Franks Ct, when the grade eases off, you climb 275 ft in just over .4 miles. Average grade 12.47%. The first half is the steepest when it hits you at 10.5% for a couple hundred feet. The next 200 ft are 14.1%, followed by 800 ft at 15.2%. After that, the hill eases a little with stretches of 11.8%, 8% and another little kick at 10.8%
The last hill we tackled Sunday was Blecha Rd. Blecha is not terribly long but it is ugly. Turning over the 39x23 is a lesson in brute force. Today, I figured the hill is .27 miles long. But, in that short distance, it climbs 216 ft at an average grade of 15.3%. Pretty impressive. However, if you remove the last 150 ft or so of the road that goes up at a modest 4%, the average grade of Blecha jumps up to 16.7% The hill slaps you from the start at 17% and follows with stretches of 26.9, 14.3, 17.2, and 11.9 percent. OUCH!!!
Italy Update: The hotel is booked in Bormio and the car is reserved for when we head off on our own. Everything is starting to take shape.
Every morning at work I check out the weather and webcams around Bormio and the Stelvio. Since the Stelvio and the Gavia usually don't open until late May or early June I can't help but be a little paranoid about them not being cleared of snow when we are there. That would suck so badly. There are positive signs though. For the first time all winter, the high temps on top of the Stelvio cracked the freezing mark. Actually, it has happened four days in a row. That doesn't mean there still isn't a lot of snow up there.
Angelina Jolie, we do not care that you are adopting another freaking foreign kid. What's the problem? Is a little American kid not politically correct enough for you? Would that make you uncool in Hollywood's eyes? Go raise your kids and give us a break.
And another thing. To the St Louis public high school students who refused to leave the Mayor's office until they met with the Mayor about the district's accreditation. Shut up and go to school! You have no say in the matter. You are nothing but dumb kids with an out of control sense of self-importance. Besides, most of your demands of the Mayor are things he has no control over. If you and the rest of your fellow classmates would show this much concern for your studies all the time, then maybe the district wouldn't be losing it's accreditation. If I were the Mayor you would have had your asses arrested for trespassing. There would have been some real whining when that happened.
Okay, that feels better.
Tuesday Night Worlds began, oddly enough, this past Tuesday. While at work I had no desire to go race but I went anyway. Once a race starts you can't help but try a little so that you don't embarrass yourself by getting lapped four times.
The winds were rather strong but not brutal and didn't seem to cause too much damage in the pack. I spent most of the race getting reacquainted with the course and finding out what felt comfortable. With a little over a lap to go I gave a little dig up and over the hill to the first turn in order to bridge up to a couple riders off the front. That effort popped me but I was just testing myself a little. Giuseppe was part of about 4 others that trailed me. While I peeled off, he continued on and they held of the late charge of the pack.
Older news:
During last Sunday's hill ride in Jeffco, Giuseppe asked what the grade was on the steep section of Franks Rd. I knew it was 12.something%, but couldn't recall exactly. He felt it was steeper. So, yesterday I consulted the route I entered on Routeslip and did some more calculations. Here are my findings:
From the right hand bend shortly after the pet cemetery up to Franks Ct, when the grade eases off, you climb 275 ft in just over .4 miles. Average grade 12.47%. The first half is the steepest when it hits you at 10.5% for a couple hundred feet. The next 200 ft are 14.1%, followed by 800 ft at 15.2%. After that, the hill eases a little with stretches of 11.8%, 8% and another little kick at 10.8%
The last hill we tackled Sunday was Blecha Rd. Blecha is not terribly long but it is ugly. Turning over the 39x23 is a lesson in brute force. Today, I figured the hill is .27 miles long. But, in that short distance, it climbs 216 ft at an average grade of 15.3%. Pretty impressive. However, if you remove the last 150 ft or so of the road that goes up at a modest 4%, the average grade of Blecha jumps up to 16.7% The hill slaps you from the start at 17% and follows with stretches of 26.9, 14.3, 17.2, and 11.9 percent. OUCH!!!
Italy Update: The hotel is booked in Bormio and the car is reserved for when we head off on our own. Everything is starting to take shape.
Every morning at work I check out the weather and webcams around Bormio and the Stelvio. Since the Stelvio and the Gavia usually don't open until late May or early June I can't help but be a little paranoid about them not being cleared of snow when we are there. That would suck so badly. There are positive signs though. For the first time all winter, the high temps on top of the Stelvio cracked the freezing mark. Actually, it has happened four days in a row. That doesn't mean there still isn't a lot of snow up there.
2 Comments:
What's wrong with adopting foreign kids? We tried adopting domestically but gave up after two failed matches when the birth mother changed her mind. Foreign adoption gave us the chance to have that family we always wanted. Adoption laws in the U.S. are so heavily stacked towards protecting birth parental rights that many adoptive parents feel foreign is their only viable option. If orphaned children are placed in loving homes, does it matter where they were born?
Nothing is wrong with adopting a foreign kid. I just don't like the way they do it. The media is at fault as well but they want the publicity too.
Also, you seem to describe your troubles adopting newborns. Brangelina go in and adopt a 3 yr old with a parent. Yes, he will have a better life but taking kids away from parents they have always known makes me uneasy.
I know the adoption process is rough but find it hard to believe that there were incapable of finding 3 or 4 yr olds to adopt in this country.
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