OutdoorType

A couple hours ago I got it in my head that I should really doing something about the super messy storage room in my basement.  This project has been way, way back in the back of my Things That Might Be Nice To Do Some Day If You Ever Finish Everything Else On Your Many, Many Other Lists Of Things To Do List (also on this list: finish that backyard landscaping project you started like five years ago).

Things that brought on this project include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Tomorrow is trash day,
• the landlord is coming for an inspection,
• and we have termites, so presumably a termite killing person will be coming around soon too and wouldn’t it be nice if the basement looked somewhat tidy?

Things so far discarded or otherwise now have a plan for discardment:

• 9 42 gallon, 3 mil “Contractor” size black trash bags full of random crap
• 4 bike wheels (left by an old roommate, not really in any sort of working order)
• 3 bike tires (these in addition to the bike wheels which also had tires and presumably flat tubes)
• 2 snow shovels (now leaving me with still two snow shovels for my ~50 feet of sidewalk that I have to shovel maybe three times a year (if I am lucky) and that even in a heavy snow might take as many as 20 minutes to accomplish solo)
• 2 old, used up mops

• still to dispose of (but properly on account of the hazardous materials, etc.) many, many cans of paint (including a couple buckets full), two CRT computer monitors (14″ & 17″ respectively), possibly some old shoes, some furniture, etc.

I have to say the difference is really quite something. I wish I’d had thought to take a photo before hand.

On a side note, I should mention that the entire time  I was hauling all of this crap to the curb it has been raining. And raining. And raining.  Bearded men are building boats it is raining so much. And the trip to the curb is just far enough that a rain jacket and shoes that are not sandals would be a prudent choice, but each time I think to myself, “It’s not that far and it’s not that cold.” But really, it is.  Brrr! Just about time for a hot shower and then sleepy time on freshly laundered sheets.  (Freshly laundered sheets being the key to any nutritious night’s sleep).

Metal bowls left atop preheated ovens will also preheat to the desired temperature (375° F). Ouch.

CycleFest, originally uploaded by Brian Knight Photography.

Does the week begin on Sunday or Monday? I’ve never really be clear on the matter. I’m of the opinion that Sunday is the last day of the week, but all of my calendars seem to differ. Anyways, the point here is that since Sunday (be it the start, or end, of something – and really, while we’re at it, maybe we should further investigate our need to quantify events and place them on a time line… or, maybe not) I’ve been a little busy.

First of all, Sunday afternoon I had to take a giant nap. It was great. I love to nap, especially after spending many hours exposed to the elements. Sunday morning was an early wakeup, followed by shooting the cold and wet CycleFest 10K trail run at Wakefield, followed by the afore mentioned nap. Which was great. Post nap activities included editing photos. And editing photos. And John Adams watching. And editing still more photos.

After editing and posting photos I got sucked into watching “Babel” that Brad Pitt movie where the lives of four families end up being tragically interconnected on account of one man’s desire to hunt. Or something like that. I wouldn’t know because I ended up pausing the movie a couple times to focus on the photo editing and then I had to rewind it a couple times (have I mentioned how much I love the DVR?) too. Finally, towards 2am I was able to settle in and really start to enjoy the show. The pace was quickening, the story lines were converging and then… then I pressed a button on the remote and jumped forward to real time on the TV. And the movie was long past over and there was nothing I could do to figure out how to get back to my end point. There were maybe 15 minutes left. I was so disappointed. Anyone know how that movie ends? Feel free to leave spoilers and/or commentary in the comments.

Monday I was back at work and then I went on an odyssey to first the District where I was honked at not once, but twice by an impatient Metro Bus driver because apparently I was waiting in a no waiting zone. (And let me have a quick word with that driver… Mr. Metro Bus driver I don’t honk my horn at you when you’re taking your sweet ass time all over the city and regional highways. No, I am patient. In fact, there is one Metro bus I regularly encounter and I pretty much always let him merge over to one of the middle lanes on I-66. So get off my ass already, ok?).

But I digress… the purpose of the trip was to go to the College Park IKEA and assist Heather with the loading and delivering of her new kitchen cabinets. And so on to the pride and joy of Sweden did we travel and waiting there for us were harried, seemingly overworked/underpaid employees who had apparently forgotten that they have a pretty sweet deal* working as they do at IKEA (*based on a quick Google search for “ikea employee” and then skimming the results it seems like IKEA should be a wonderous place to work. I mean, $2 lunches? For anything on the menu?! Awesome.). Their attitude could best be described as “surly.”

Long story short, they didn’t want to fill the order with less than an hour to closing and there was no way we were going to leave without cabinetry. Guess who won? HMG did. Duh. And before too long the car was loaded, tied down, and we were enjoying a nice reward of delicious pancakes (that’s no sarcasm there btw, the pancakes were really good, and not just because we were starved – though I’m sure that helped).

I got home around 12:30 and then went to bed. Then the next morning, on Tuesday, I went to work. Then after work I drove to Burke and met my Dad for dinner (since he was in town for some meetings or something). Then after dinner I came home and worked on race photos. Until 2am. Then I went to bed. Then, the next morning (Wednesday) I went to work. Again. Then, after work, I came home and met up with my brother’s fiancée (Leah) who was in town for meetings or something. I drove her around the old neighborhood and we discovered that someone has been messing up the old house. Then we went to dinner. Then, after dinner I came home and worked on race photos.

Raise your hand if you’ve detected a pattern!

Now though, instead of staying up past 2am I am going to throw in the towel and go to bed. This has really just been a long way of saying that the CycleFest photos are almost done, but not quite, and so I am begging everyone who may be anxiously awaiting the final upload to please be patient one more night.

Thanks!

Hohner Squared, originally uploaded by Brian Knight Photography.

Senior year of high school I taught myself how to play harmonica by:
a. buying this book & tape combo (yes, really), then
b. reading the book & listening to the tape until it nearly wore out, and
c. carrying a harmonica in my pocket pretty much everyday for the next six years.

You go through a lot of harmonicas this way, but it’s totally worth it.

Sadly, two things have conspired against my harmonica playing. First thing is I got a real job where you can’t just play harmonica whenever you feel like it. No one seemed to mind when I would pull out the ol’ mouth harp while working at the Hemlock zip wire. But in cubicle computer land busting out a nice blues riff in the middle of the work day just isn’t kosher.

The second (and truly the saddest) thing that killed the harmonica playing is the mighty cellular telephone. My harmonica always went in the right front pocket of whatever pair of pants I was wearing, but now that’s where the cell phone goes and there’s really no more room another hunk of metal (plus, you have to leave room for the Big Red which predates the harmonicas by nearly six years).

Anyways, the roommate is out of town for the next couple nights and so without anyone to bother I decided to take advantage of the empty house. Out came the guitar, and harmonicas, and the song book. I belted out classic bluegrass and some Johnny & June Carter Cash songs for over an hour before calling it quits. There are really few things that relax me as much as picking at the guitar.  It was great… I’m definitely having music night again real soon.

There is a small creature in my attic who, from the sounds of the clawing, seems to be trying to burrow its way through the ceiling and into my bedroom. I’m not scared or anything, I like my chances against whatever might fall from the sky. It’s just the little scratching and banging around is annoying. It’s 2am and I’m trying to sleep. Where’s a squirrel cop when you need one?