TuHandy's Mobile Blog

Half Asleep

2010-02-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

I must have been half asleep this morning driving to work. As much as I hate to admit this, I was on the freeway headed towards Benton City and happen to hear something out of the norm. I looked at the speedo, 80 mph, check. I looked at the tach, 5200 rpm, check. Oh wait, not good. The car normally turns 3000 rpm at 80 mph. I had been driving in third gear for a number of miles. Like I said I hate to admit this but I am only human.

2010-02-05T19:09:00.001-08:00

Volvo 1 is gone so it's time for Volvo 2 to head down the road. It's
been a nice place to put all Aarons used/ broken parts but it's time
to say good-bye. I think I have got my money out of this parts car,
from the motor I used to the third row seat I sold on ebay, not to
mention all the parts I took off and will someday sell on eBay.

Easy run

2010-02-05T17:51:00.001-08:00

Had a nice little 6.5 mile run up and down Paterson hill this morning. It was a nice pace but my heartrate was redlined right from the start and stayed that way till the top. Thanks to 90% of the truckers and vehicles who pulled into the other lane to give me room on the side of the road. And I really would like to say "F" OFF to the 10% of people that don't seem to have a clue. Even when they have another lane going in the same direction they do not pull to the left, but instead stay in the right lane and blow by me (2 feet away, going 60 mph) and throw up a nice roost of water. I let a few know how I felt. Running is so relaxing.

Action shot

2010-02-04T16:07:00.000-08:00

Now this is a great a action shot. I think the dentist is useing a
semi latex caulk.

Small break in the action

2010-02-04T15:48:00.001-08:00

Nice chins.
Is that blood I see? My mouth is slightly numb right now. Good times.

Dentist

2010-02-04T14:55:00.000-08:00

It's that time again. No big deal, just a couple cavities, one crown,
oh and one root canal. Should be out of here in just a couple minutes.

Team Tweakers

2010-02-03T21:05:00.001-08:00

I received important somewhat classified information from my Team Tweakers Oregon Headquarters today. Lets just say it made M's day.

Inside the envelope was a RaceCenter Northwest magazine. Not just any N.W. Racecenter mag, it was one that listed Team Tweakers top performer(s).

Congrats, to Mr Lind (Garth) for being the North West Olympic Duathlon Champion of thee United States.

Oh, then there's #18, NorthWest Masters Males Triathlon person.

2009 Pinarello Prince Carbon

2010-01-29T17:38:00.001-08:00

Just looking thru some of the pics from the California experience.
Aaron and I made a stop at the Nytro shop (very nice). Just looking
thru the large selection of pretty decent bikes and found this little
53cm Pomarello Prince. Cute little thing. Oh, I zoomed in on the
price tag just in case you might be interested in buying one for
yourself and one for your spouse. You better act fast because this
one is priced to move since its last years model. Who says staying
fit is cheap.

Volvo 850 T-5

2010-01-28T18:21:00.001-08:00

So long good friend. Yes, she is officially sold. My nieghbor took it to work one day and apparently had three different buyers for it. I believe it caused some kind of conflict between employee and boss. Yes, the nieghbor received a nice finders fee.

It would not be a true good-bye without a certain quote,

"Well, this is a piece of shit"

Xenon Headlights

2010-01-28T16:56:00.001-08:00

Boy these suckers are bright. On the way home from California I probably got flashed by oncoming cars a couple times. People apparently thought that I had my high beams on. Yesterday M had an encounter with some gal on the side of the highway, apparently discussing BMW self leveling xenon headlights. Yes, this gal was set on having M pull over so she could lay into her (M did have a friend in the car). I guess the gal was very irritated that M was driving around with her high beams on, untill M clicked the lever and showed her what the high beams really look like. Man, I wish I could have been there to see it.

The Stig Unveiled

2010-01-28T16:55:00.001-08:00

When the elusive Stig lifted his iconic helmet he was revealed as none other than Formula 1 ace Michael Schumacher.

I don't know how long everyone knew this but I just found out about it tonight.

Home sweet home

2010-01-24T20:41:00.000-08:00

Finally made it home.

North and South

2010-01-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

From sunny southern California to nasty slick northern California in
a few hours. Good thing were in a X3 instead of a M3. I have been a
little sideways a few times.

Late night radio

2010-01-23T23:56:00.000-08:00

Really not sure what we were listening to but we were. By the way it's
late and I'm getting tired. We have about 130 miles left tonight.

Ferrari F430

2010-01-23T21:49:00.000-08:00

Not bad.

In and out burgers

2010-01-23T15:57:00.001-08:00

Good eats.

Sunny San diego

2010-01-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

Went for a run along the coast in the rain. Then when we were done the
sun came out.
View from Randy and Marys condo (nice).
Oh yea, just bought M's new rig. Happy Birthday to me.

Cockpit shot

2010-01-22T21:17:00.000-08:00

Anders this ones for you. Ka ka, ka ka?

Ok were back on plane number three.

"I have good news and bad news"

2010-01-22T20:32:00.000-08:00

That's what the pilot said as everyone was sitting in the plane ready
to take off. Good news is that we are going to make it to San Diego.
Bad news, "not on this plane". Mechanical problems. We will be
boarding another plane in about 20 minutes.

X3 here we come

2010-01-22T19:35:00.001-08:00

Just leaving Pasco headed towards San Diego, Ca. Aaron and I are
headed down to pick up the latest addition to the BMW family.

Computrainer

2010-01-16T10:14:00.001-08:00

Riding the escape from Alcatraz triathlon right now. Some nice hills.
So far a 15% grade.

Sweet Sweet Nuts

2010-01-16T09:20:00.001-08:00

M stocked me up on my favorite snacks last night. All the different
flavors are good but Blue Diamond just came out with the salt and
vinegar, which are now my favorite. We cannot find that flavor very
often so when she does she buys them all.
It's the small things that make people happy.

The Spa is now open

2010-01-08T09:50:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Karen and Scott at Pool Care Products for fixing my pump and
getting me what I needed to start up this old piece of $&@/ hot tub.
There are still a few little issues to work out but it works. Actually
the heater works really well, myself and the kids got in last night
and it was a little to warm (106). M would not let the kids stay in
for more than a couple minutes, something about not wanting to cook
thier little brains. Its kinda weird because she let me stay in for
hours. So adjusted the temp and tried it again this morning, much
better.

Peacock Room, Spokane Wa.

2009-12-27T16:45:00.001-08:00

Davenport Hotel.

Safari Room, Spokane Wa.

2009-12-27T16:00:00.001-08:00

Hello kitty

Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T17:17:00.001-08:00

Just got done decorating cookies for Santa, now it's time for Mexican
food.

Cable Bridge Run

2009-12-20T13:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I ran in the Cable Bridge Run. It was alot warmer and less icy than last year. Lots of people ran again this year. There was a 1 mile, 5k and a 10k. There were nearly 400 people who ran the 10k. I ended up 28th overall and 4th out of 48 for age group (40-49). I ended up running and asterisk personal best. I ran a 38:58, my previous best is a 39:42. I am giving it an asterisk because my watch showed the course a little short. Also, I don't feel that I ran very well. At mile 1ish, I was already dead. My heart rate was already 190 bpm, and I had 5 more miles to go. I just kinda held on most of the run. At the end I did manage to run down and pass one of the ladies who were in front of me. But ended up being "chicked" by two.........

Here is a link to the 10k results:

http://onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php?race_id=13092&relist_record_type=result&upper_bound=390&use_previous_sql=1&group_by=default

Transportation issues

2009-12-18T12:03:00.000-08:00

Nothings funnier than going out to your car in the morning and finding
the battery dead. I had driven the truck to work the last three days
due to the icy roads, so my car has been sitting (apparantly with the
radar detector on) in the garage.
I went to jump the battery and found out they were on opposite sides
of the cars, so the jumper cables would not reach both batteries. I
don't know if BMW planned it or not but it sure is a great idea to
have the battery in the trunk for these ocassions.
Also, speaking of vehicle issues. I had to have Rick bust into my
truck at work yesterday because someone left the keys in the ignition
and locked the doors.

Front Page

2009-12-17T21:04:00.001-08:00

Santa and I on the front page. I can understand Santa but me, it must
have been a slow news week for the Prosser Bulletin. Actually it was
kinda fun doing the interview and communicating with the photographer
via e-mails, no face to face or phone calls these days.

http://www.recordbulletin.com/article.php?id=3265

Here is the link to the Prosser Bulletin's article if your really bored and want
something to do. You might have to register to be able to read full
article. If you cant read it online, M picked up one or two or 30 extra copies, let me know and she will send ya one.

Icy Winter Wonderland

2009-12-15T15:51:00.000-08:00

The good thing was that I got to go to work 2 hrs late and got
released 2 hours early today. Roads are going to be a little slick
tonight and tomorrow.

Equipment Relocation Project

2009-12-13T11:36:00.000-08:00

Before, Satellite and DVD player sitting perfectly next to the new t.v. I really see nothing wrong with this.

Now, Its all gone. Very classy. Ok, non trailer trashy at least. By the way, nice looking mantel.

Here it is, in the closet below the stairs. Bad news is that I have to get a new DVD player (darn it). The old one did not have a HDMI output. Since I ran two HDMI cables I want to use them both.

6 seconds

2009-12-08T21:19:00.001-08:00

Man, all that training for 6 seconds.
Jose Aldo defeats Cub Swanson.

COLD

2009-12-08T14:28:00.000-08:00

Yea, it was a little chilly on the way to work this morning. It's not
suppose to get much warmer anytime soon.

Alexander Gustafson

2009-11-18T20:57:00.000-08:00

I enjoy watching UFC fights and I was glad I was able to see my
cousin's fight. He's a pretty tough guy. I definately don't want to
piss him off during Thanksgiving dinner.

Cycling Room

2009-11-15T13:29:00.001-08:00

Just got my new (used, from E-Bay) computrainer. Its just like a
normal trainer but a computer runs how much tension there is. The
monitor shows actual roads and hills ect. Along with another rider
that you are trying to beat. It also shows your pedal efficiency,
watts, rpm, heart rate, ect, ect. This thing is way too smart for me,
I'm hopeing Aaron and Garth figure thiers out so they can show me.
Actually, I have used it twice now and I have never sweated so much in
my life. It will be a great winter and summer training aid.

Columbia River Classic

2009-11-14T12:40:00.000-08:00

Aaron, Garth, Missy and Patrick (fellow marathon runner) all ran today
and ran well. Sarah also ran but missed her finish (sorry). I did
not run today because 10 miles doesn't really challenge marathon
runners like me............... I kid, I kid

Fireplace mantel

2009-11-10T18:42:00.001-08:00

$55 dollars and a week later it's done. It's nothing fancy but cleans
up the fireplace and makes the 23" tv look a little larger.
After living in this house for a few years I can mark that one off the
to do list.

BMW E46 M3 valve adjustment

2009-11-08T12:08:00.001-08:00

It was maintenance time for Aarons car yesterday. There was a laundry list of things to do, but the most important was the checking and adjusting of the valves. I was a little nervous because I really did not want to screw up his car. It turned out to be pretty easy. I would give it a 5 of 10 rating for difficulty. The most important thing was not drop the tiny little metal shims down into the engine.
One of the pictures show how we covered everything except where we were working. Someone mentioned it looked like some kind of surgery going on. Well, out of 24 valves we found one out of tolerance (.18 to .23mm intake and .28 to .33mm exhaust). It's kinda funny to think that the difference between a good valve clearance and one that is out of tolerance is the thickness of a human hair. Aaron measured one and it was .05mm thick.
We found another valve that was close to the upper range so we decided to change shims but could not find a shim that would work. I started to get a little cocky while changing the second shim and decided that I did not need to cover up the engine. Sure enough I dropped one of
these tiny shims down into the engine somewhere. I thought I was going to puke,,,,,,, but was pretty sure it did not go down somewhere I could not get to it. Sure enough I was able to retrieve it with a magnet.
Everything back together and engine started and no loud noises, so I considered it a success.

2010 Boston Marathon

2009-11-06T19:14:00.001-08:00

Boston, here I come. Good times.

Skillet video #3

2009-11-05T21:12:00.000-08:00

Skillet Video #2

2009-11-05T21:08:00.000-08:00

Skillet, Rebirthing Video

2009-11-04T21:28:00.000-08:00

Skillet in Kennewick Wa. on 11/03/09. Sorry poor iphone quality video/audio but it was a great concert.

Concert Night

2009-11-04T20:43:00.000-08:00

Had a great time at the Skillet concert Tuesday night. All the bands were great. Skillet was unbelievable. The crowd was not quite a sell out but hopefully these bands will come back again, hopefully not on a Tuesday night.

I will try to put some of the many videos I took on the blog soon.

Skillet Fans. (I think thier parents just droped them off and left them)

After I took this picture some lady that was sitting behind me asked, "Are all those girls yours"? I did not know what to say.............. I instantly thought to myself, "are your kidding me?" All these little rockers were very good and enjoyed the concert.

Letter Black

Decyfer Down

Hawk Nelson

Skillet

Ice Baths

2009-10-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

Kinda weird that I just posted about ice baths and then the next
morning there was an article in the paper about them.
The article was about a book called, The Runners Rule Book: Everything
a runner needs to know - and then some, by Mark Remy.

Recovery Hurts

2009-10-28T19:29:00.001-07:00

Been a little sore the last couple of days for some reason. I was told
to try taking ice baths so I figured what the heck. Yea, it's a little
chilly but I think it's actually working. Today was the first day that
I was able to walk around half way normal. As fun as these baths are,
I think I've had enough of them.

Tri-Cities Marathon

2009-10-25T16:55:00.001-07:00

This is the trophy/plaque that the first place runner got. Oh by the way, it was not me.

Heres the finish line about an hour after I finished (after my massage and Starbucks). I did somehow finish. I believe it was due to all the training I put in the five weeks prior to the race. I logged somewhere between 9 and 11 miles in that time. I stuck to my plan, which was to run at a 7:10-7:15 pace. The first 19.5 miles I averaged a 7:08 pace. After mile 20, I started to fall apart. It felt like I was on ice skates, I could not lift my feet more than a few centimeters off the ground. I must have been doing ok, even though my pace was starting the slip, I was able to pass a few people in the last 4 miles. Miles 22 to 25 were tough. My legs were starting to cramp and had to pay attention to the road and not trip over any leaves or sticks on the road. About mile 25 I was able to get back to my 7:15 pace, because I was pretty sure I could make the last 1.2 miles. One last scare at mile 26, felt hamstrings start to tighten up. "Great" two tenths of a mile from finish and Im not going to make it. Turned out ok, and I had a good kick at the end to close within a couple seconds of a co-worker. Final time was 3:10:45. I don't know where that puts me over all. Last year it would have put me 7th, but this year I believe it will be some where between 15-20th. Good Times. Preliminary race results will be here: http://www.3rrr.org/

Which is it?

2009-10-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

Parking or No Parking. Took this picture out at work.

Thrifty

2009-10-03T16:03:00.001-07:00

You know your thrifty (a cheap ass) when you drive your Hummer to the
Goodwill store.

Parking 101

2009-10-03T15:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks alot. FYI, I'm on the right side.

Where's my truck?

2009-10-01T17:40:00.001-07:00

Came across this trailer which was missing the truck on my way home
from work. Apples everywhere. I only had one chance at a picture. I
didn't want to be to obvious taking a picture because the sheriff was
right there. You can see him in my side mirror.

Good Morning

2009-09-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

Nothing says Good Morning more than almost hitting four horses on your
way to work. Just a couple miles down the road I found these big
fellas. luckily when I came by they were off on the side of the road.
I turned around and thought I might be able to get them to jump back
over the fence. No luck. Went and knocked on door of house where I
thought horses belong. As I'm waiting for someone to answer the front
door at 5:30 in the morning, I'm watching cars fly by and at the last
second hit thier brakes. I thought for sure there was going to be a
collision. Finally told the guy who came to the door and he seemed a
lttle confused or still asleep but headed down with a flashlight.

Prosser Balloon Rally

2009-09-26T19:37:00.001-07:00

Just getting ready to watch the balloon rally. The six balloons are
just starting to be filled at the Prosser High football stadium.
Apparantly there are 28 balloons in town for this years rally.
Balloons not really my thing (missing a motor) but really neat to see
at night all lit up. Only lasted a couple of minutes, it was getting
a little windy.

Indian Summer Half-Marathon

2009-09-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

Had a great time running the entire race with Aaron. I told him to go ahead and take off since he's faster but he kept giving me some lame excuse about just wanting to finish. It was fun running and B.S.ing with Aaron the whole way. Well fun for the first 10 miles. Then I had to put both earbuds in and tune everything out. Apparently we were both doing ok, because we were gaining and passing people the last 5-6 miles. Apparantly we ran mile 12 at a 6:05/mile pace.

Missy of course was the first female to finish. Great job...

Race results here:

http://www.3rrr.org/?f=2003&activityId=393&eventId=1023

Oh, and you might have noticed that Aaron finished 9th and I finished 10th (5 seconds back). Well thats kinda funny because we both finished at exactly the same time at a near walking pace. Aaron was apparently slowing down to let me finish ahead of him. He apparently had seen my post about the Fiasco in Pasco race where his brother beat me to the finish line with a strong sprint at the line. I saw Aaron slowing down so, I slowed down, anyways we crossed the line at the exact same time. But of course I'm one place down on a Lind again. Oh well, Good Times.

Running on Empty

2009-09-14T08:14:00.001-07:00

Thats how I feel this morning after working a double shift at work
yesterday.
Ok, I'm pushing it this morning. I guess I will get some fuel before
I start my 50 mile daily drive. I looked at the cars display that
shows your range in miles untill empty and all it showed was ---- , so
I assumed that meant feet and not miles. Wish I had a bigger tank,
seems like I'm allways filling up with gas. I really can't complain
because it gets about 28 mpg with me driving.

Crabs

2009-09-12T19:56:00.001-07:00

Wish my friend Aaron was here.

Crab legs

2009-09-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

Dave loves his crab legs. Enough said.

Denim & Diamonds

2009-09-12T19:19:00.001-07:00

Well, I just won the first live auction of tonights activities. I'm
not sure what I bid on but I won it for $500. Good times.

Prosser Soccer

2009-09-12T14:36:00.001-07:00

It's soccer time again. Kole had his very first soccer game on
Thursday. He did very well, I think he was on the ground more than on
his feet, but he was def not shy or scared of the ball. Go figure.
Kendall is an old pro at this soccer stuff. She had her first game of
the season this morning. She is playing up a year on the U-9 team.
Kayla is on the same team so we get to see the Linds. The other girls
are a little bigger but she did very well. I was refereeing the game
so was able to assist. I am not coaching this year due to the fact
that they didn't need any coaches by the time I signed up, so kinda
wierd not to be coaching.

Titanium Man Triathlon

2009-09-07T20:38:00.000-07:00

Titantium Man Triathlon results here: http://www.milliseconds.com/participants/final_list/overall/141817

Titanium Man Triathlon

2009-09-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

Results here: http://www.milliseconds.com/participants/final_list/overall/141817

Nice wheels

2009-09-04T20:58:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow morning is the Titanium Man Triathlon. It's an Olympic
distance tri compared to the sprint distance triathlons I have done,
basically it's twice the distance. I'm really looking forward to it,
especially the one mile swim. At least I'll have a nice lookin bike to
ride when I eventually get out of the water. Thanks M.

Found it

2009-09-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I figured it out with a little help from the Internet and I used
a phone a friend. It turns out that the oil pressure switch was bad.
Went to napa and found a replacement and $11 dollars later, were good.

Boat troubles

2009-08-30T16:01:00.001-07:00

We went out on the boat this afternoon for ohhhh, let's see, a couple
of minutes. The boat has a red oil/water temp light on and it will not
rev past 2500 rpm. The strange part is that the oil pressure and water
temp guage both show perfect. Oh well, something else to work on in my
spare time.

Office cubicle

2009-08-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

I had a extra couple of minutes at work so I thought I'd improve on my cubicles privacy/security. So I installed a door with a omni lock and window.

Before (without door)

After

This is not a real door. I thought I had to throw that out there, because apparently some of my readers dont understand my sense of humor or miss important details (you know who you are). This is an old poster board that I taped a handle and window to. So far its working, my boss didnt have a code to get in.

Hwy 241 Fire

2009-08-24T16:29:00.000-07:00

Just drove by some houses that are very lucky to be still standing.
The center picture is of a house that was just built a few months
ago. I also drove by the Silver Dollar restaurant and unfortunately
there was nothing left of that place but one partial rock wall.
Hopefully no one was injured. Washington DOT was still working on the roadway
in one spot, but the road is open.

Aquaman Duathlon

2009-08-24T13:45:00.000-07:00

This last Friday a couple of us competed in the Aquaman Duathlon. The race cosisted of a 2 mile run, 1/2 mile swim then a 3 mile run. When I say a couple of us, Im referring to Missy, Petr, and myself. If there's water involved you won't see Aaron or Garth anywhere besides the shoreline. Actually after this so called race that's not a bad idea. What's to say besides there was a great turnout of people. I still dont understand why. This is not fun, especially the swim. But there was a good turnout, I would guess approx. 164 finished.

Missy ran and swam well, finishing 4th overall for the women. Petr had a great finish, thanks to his two solid weeks of training to get ready for this race. I on the other hand have really nothing good to say, besides the run segments were good and I had a chance to talk to a nice guy on a kayak. Aaron got to see the joy in my eyes when I finally got out of the water. I was VERY VERY happy (right, Aaron?).

One more race to go. The big one, the one I've been training for all year. Titanium Man Triathlon on September 5th. (1.5k swim, 40 km bike, 10km run). I can't wait, twice the distance to swim.

You can look at the results here if you want. http://www.3rrr.org/?f=2003&eventId=1020

Supplemental lighting

2009-08-22T08:00:00.001-07:00

The only light in the mens bathroom at work has been out for over a
week. so I took it upon myself to install some supplemental lighting.
It works and everyone is happy, especially the janitors, because it's
hard to aim in the dark.
It's not as easy as just changing the bulbs. The ballast is bad so
they have to write some safety plan and then a lock and tag plan, ect.
ect.

Poker / 20 yr reunion

2009-08-07T21:39:00.001-07:00

I'm at M's 20 yr class reunion, luckily it's at a casino. Good times.

BMW 328i cam sensor

2009-08-07T16:35:00.001-07:00

Well got the cam position sensor in with no problems, well kinda. It
was time for an oil change so I did that first before the part
arrived. I was removing the oil drain plug and it broke off inside the
oil pan. Oh well, no big deal. Removed the broken plug and got a temp
replacement from the Napa store. By that time Fed Ex arrived and I
was able to put in the cam sensor. It makes it easier (more room to
reach under the intake to get the electrical connection loose) if the
top of the oil filter housing is off.

Vehicle maintenance

2009-08-06T14:51:00.000-07:00

I was casually driving home from work yesterday and not one but two
check engine lights came on. So I slowed down a little and made it
home to scan for codes. I had a P0430 code, which basically said, cam
position sensor circuit malfunction. Ordered new one and new seal for
under 100 bucks with two day ship. The car is running ok at idle and
low speeds but is a dog at higher speeds or going up a hill. Basically
has no power, when you step on the gas it's gutless. Should only take
a couple minutes to put it in.

Mid Summer Triathlon / Duathlon

2009-08-03T18:42:00.000-07:00

Team Tweekers went back to Fairview Or, to compete in the Mid Summer Tri and Duathlon. We had a couple changes on this trip. 1st, Missy participated or should say dominated the Female Triathlon on Saturday. Finished 5th (1:15:53, no need to remember that time, just forget about it) out of 388. 2nd, Rachel did the tri it Triathlon. Everything the same as the sprint Triathlon but with the swim being 1/4 mile long. No wetsuit needed for her, no big deal just go out and swim 1/4 mile with hundreds of other people around you. I did not get to see da ladies but they did very well. Here are results of Sat race (Aug 1st). http://www.racecenter.com/results/RCNW_results.htm

Then the guys raced on Sunday. Garth and Aaron raced in the duathlon as they did last time. Of course it was a 1,2, finish for them. Garth finishing 1st and Aaron 2nd overall.

I had a goal of 1 hour and 15 or 16 minutes to finish the Triathlon. Last time we came down here I finished with a 1:21:06. I have been working on swimming alot since then so I was hopeing that my time would be better. I finished with a 1:16:03 (excuse number 112, I got lost in transition #2 and it cost me about 30-40 seconds). Everthing was pretty much similar to last race except I was able to swim 5 minutes faster. I am still not even close to swimming at a normal or decent pace but its getting better. I ended up finishing 23rd out of 219 finishers, and 7th out of my age group. By the way, my age group sucks, or actually is really good. Four out of the top five were in my age group (40-44 yrs old). Oh well it gives me something to shoot for. Results here for Sunday race (Aug 2nd) http://www.racecenter.com/results/RCNW_results.htm

M took this picture of me relaxing before my race. Actually I was just making sure I could float.

Yes, out of the water, finally. Nice cap, I know.

Transition pic

Aaron ?

Yes, Its all over

I took this picture after the race was well over, just wanted a pic of these nice wheels on my bike (thanks Missy). Then I noticed the nice bike behind mine, with the basket carrier on the rear. There were all types of bikes from garage sale bikes to $10-$12,000 ones.

Sure theres room for one more bike in there. Well maybe not, fours enough.

Wild Boat Race weekend

2009-07-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again. I think were going out and getting
messed up this weekend. PARTY.
Oh wait, never mind, flashbacks.

We did go boating early Friday and beat the rush of crazy people. I
did have the sheriff tell me to slow down twice. The female officer
was trying to show me who's in charge. She's yelling at me to slow
down, no wake zone, so I stand up and walk to the front of the boat.
She continues on and says "see your making a wake right now and that
will impact the racing boats" (the boats were still a mile or two
away from us. I calmly shouted back, "it's in neutral". I could see
some male officers behind her snickering. Pretty funny.

"Click"

2009-07-24T15:11:00.001-07:00

I think something finally clicked. I went for a swim this morning,
just a little one mile swim down the river. I felt perfectly relaxed
for the first time in open water. I did whatever I needed to do to
take my mind off what I was really doing. I started looking around the
water for fish or tried different breathing, strokes, ect. Before I
knew it , I was done. We will see how tomorrow goes.

Weed barrier

2009-07-19T16:27:00.001-07:00

I'm so glad I wasted my time and money putting down landscape fabric
under these rocks. It's been about two weeks and looks like the weeds
are having no problems. This sucks.

Shoreline Run

2009-07-18T11:48:00.000-07:00

Had a good race this morning. Had a good turn out of people as well,
including Missy, Aaron, Jared, Garth, and my new boss, Garrett. I'm
not exactly sure how everyone did but we all finished. Garrett has
been asking me about running and cycling so I told him to come out for
this race. He had not ran for years and did not practice for this but
he finished the 10K with a respectable time. Aaron and Missy ran as a
couple, actually hand in hand I believe. Missy did beat him with a
strong kick at the finish. It was good to see Jared with a pair of
running shoes on. He ran the two mile course and I believe set a world
record. Garth and I hung out together for the first four or so
miles. Eventually my blistering pace was too much for him, and he had
to drop back. I felt ok, not great but good enough to finish with a
personal best of 39:39. The clock showed 39:10 but it was started
late. Oh well, still was below 40 minutes. Results here http://www.3rrr.org/?f=2003&eventId=1022

Ok, I did not have any photos of the race so I used this one. Its of the "shoreline" of Cancun. But very good comment.

Choke hold

2009-07-15T17:24:00.001-07:00

Lately the theme of this blog is choking. I was watching the finish of
stage 7 of The Tour de France, yes I'm a few stages behind. Anyways, I
was watching the interview with Lance talking about his teammate,
Contador. That's when I spotted this nice little choke hold on the
left. The guy doing the choking had a team Astana shirt on. It was
weird, he did the choke hold for a second and then it was over.

iPhone

2009-07-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

I thought it was time to upgrade phones again. I really liked my
Blackberry but wanted to try the iPhone. So far it's good, camera is 3
megapixel, and works much better than the BB Storm I tried. All the
free aplications are fun and useful. The keyboard is pretty easy to
use, even while driving. I think AT&T is more expensive as far as
plans go, but whatever. I am still learning about it and want to learn
how to take shows off my DVR and watch them on the iPhone.

Heimlich

2009-07-08T16:02:00.000-07:00

Today I got to find out what it feels like to be Heimliched. We had a company feed for lunch (steaks). I was the first one back to our lunch room and began eating. I got a piece of steak stuck in my throat, but figured I could "choke" it down. No such luck, that baby was wedged in there tight. By this time one of my friends came in and was eating. I stood up and stood right in front of him pointing to my throat several times while poking my friend in the chest (making sure he knew I wasn't kidding). I turned around once I was sure he got the message and let him do his work. Out came the steak on #2 or #3 thrust. Good times.

When I was the only one in the lunch room I thought I was going to have to do the Heimlich with a chair. I wasn't looking forward to that.

I found out there has been countless stars who have been saved by the Heimlich. Halle Berry had to be saved by co-star Pierce Brosnan during the filming of a love scene in "Die Another Day" after choking on a piece of fruit. Just thought I would throw that little tid bit out there.

I nominated Jeff for our companies "Presidential life saving award", he should be seeing a nice framed certificate and $500.

Camping

2009-07-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

July 4th (P.M.)
After the days activities were done we still had to finish loading up the boat with the rest of our camping stuff. We ended up going to the Potholes reservoir and camped with our neighbors. They will be out there for about 2 weeks. Sunday evening the wind blew so hard the side of the tent was actually laying on us. One of us actually slept thru it all, I don't know how.

Little Miss Prosser

2009-07-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

July 4th (afternoon)
Kendall participated in the Little Miss Prosser pageant and before that all the kids were in the Prosser parade. Kendall did not win, but was only sad for approx. 36 minutes and was over it. It was kinda funny, she had congratulated me on my race and I told her that I did not win, but I tried my hardest and would try it again. I think it made her feel better knowing her dad was a loser :)

Righteous Richland Sprint Triathlon

2009-07-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

Sat. 4th of July (A.M.) tried another Tri. Missy and I tore it up again. Not afraid to admit, Missy beat me in the swim by 2 or 3 minutes. I ended up 3rd in my age group, Missy was 2nd. Race results will be posted here. http://www.3rrr.org/?f=2003&eventId=1012 Thanks to all my coaches for showing up with their starbucks and last minute advice.
The best part about doing these stupid races is the liquid refreshments afterwards.

Boating

2009-07-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

Did some boating, good times. Enough said.

Movie night

2009-07-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

Yea, yea, so its been awhile. I'll do a quick summary of the last weeks events. Anyways, movie night was ok. A few technical difficulties. Yes the screen is dark, I know. We'll see if there's another.

12 cylinders of fun

2009-06-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

Some guys I work with have too many toys. But, now my earlier post about speeding makes more sense.

Best Friends

2009-06-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

Drake and Dobie taking a little stroll down the bike path. Believe it or not this worked out great. After a couple minutes Dobie gave up trying to pull Drake (slight weight advantage to Drake).

Protect and Serve?

2009-06-23T07:37:00.001-07:00

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all the fine men and women out there who are protecting our community. BUT, is it really necessary to pull over and ticket the average hanford worker who might be exceeding the speed limit by a couple mph's. Its been getting worse, lately they have been on site giving out tickets. I'm sure there are bigger and "badder" criminals to catch somewhere.

Outdoor Movie Night

2009-06-20T11:41:00.001-07:00

Its time.
Movies free - Parkings not

Let's plan on June 27th. Movie will start at about dusk. Bring your lawn chairs, blankets and favorite drinks. We will have the popcorn machine running non stop. Movie is undetermined at this point, but will be somewhat kid friendly. This is an open invitation, so invite your friends.
Come early and pick out the good seats and stay late and we will do some side by side racing.
If you plan on coming please let me know and I will get you a free parking pass.

Kole and his Lego's

2009-06-14T16:17:00.000-07:00

Kole was so excited that he built this "outerspace zoomer" all by himself.

Blue Lake Duathlon/Triathlon

2009-06-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

Well its over, everyone on team Tweekers finished.

Congratulations to the Duathlon Tweekers:

Missy 1st place age group, 2nd place female overall.
Garth 1st place age group, 4th place overall.
Aaron 2nd place age group, 5th place overall.
Greg 1st place age group, 6th place overall.

Detailed results are here: http://www.racecenter.com/results/RCNW_results.htm

I did not do so well, I blame it on my swim coach. Oh wait, I have no such thing. My swim was a major downfall for me this morning. Once again I could not swim in the open water without freaking out and crying like a baby. I just could not get into a normal easy pace like I could in the pool. I need some major help. I ended up taking 22 minutes to swim the 1/2 mile course. Man, 1/2 mile looks like a long way from the shore and actually while in the water as well. My swim put me 526th out of 608 finishers. SWEET. The bike was better, 33rd overall, and the run was 37th overall. I ended up finishing in 110th place. GOOD TIMES. Thats all I have to say about that.
I dont have many pics to post becasue I did not have my phone with me this time (or last time, did you guys really think I took my phone with me and took pictures of my legs while running and riding?) Anyways, M said we need a better camera becasue she could not get our new cheap one to work, but heres a couple. I know there were professional photographers out there so I will have to see if they post any of those.

Thats Kendall in the pink sweatsuit watching dad run to the finish line.

There were some pro teams at the race. Here I was following a Team Cervelo rig.

Let's TRI it again

2009-06-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

Just got done with a little warm up swim before tomorrows triathlon in the Portland area (Blue Lake Triathlon). The whole gang is on their way down as I type. I decided to try it again, since Ive had a couple weeks to practice my swimming. I have gone from swimming one lap to swimming for approx 20 minutes. I still am not real comfortable in the water, still freak out a little when I start taking in water up my nose and mouth, oh well gotta TRI. This swim is 1/2 mile compared to my first which was 1/4 mile. So far I saw there was approx 600 people signed up for the Triathlon. My first tri. a couple weeks ago had approx 55 people. I have that many people in my age group (male 40 to 44 yrs).

What's wrong with this picture?

2009-06-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, this ones a little harder to find than the chair around the cows neck, but a highly trained mechanic will see it.
Hint: I just got done changing the oil filter (not the oil, just filter) and had dripped a little on the side of the oil filter housing. Took a can of carb cleaner and sprayed down the oil on the side of the housing. No big deal, quick and easy, good for another 5000 miles. Now the car is idling rough and sometimes dies at intersections. It also is giving the following check engine codes, PO 170, PO 173, PO 1188 and PO 1189. The codes are basically fuel malfunctions. I'm sure most of you will look up these codes to help you solve this. Good luck, answer is below.

Answer

2009-06-12T08:50:00.000-07:00

Besides the engine being very dusty, If you guessed that the oil filler cap was not properly on, YOU ARE CORRECT. When I changed the oil filter I had opened the cap a bit so the oil would drain out of the oil filter housing. Apparently I forgot to secure it. I can't imagine what I would have paid if I brought it into the BMW stealership. If any of you got the correct answer let me know, I'm looking for a good mechanic.

Sunday group ride

2009-06-07T14:47:00.000-07:00

Had a nice ride this afternoon. The rain stayed away long enough for us to get in 30 miles. No flat tires, nothing fun to tell ya, sorry.

Busy Weekend

2009-05-31T20:54:00.000-07:00

Very busy weekend of fun in the sun. Spent Friday and Saturday out in the boat. The weather was great, in the upper 80s -low 90s. Water is still a little chilly, I think its was about 55 degrees. Kendall and I jumped in a few times, I dont know why she did, but I did out of necessity. Once I jumped in the water it would take your breath away, so it made it hard to do what you needed to do. We ended up not going out on the boat on Sunday since it is the day of rest.

So we ended up going to Hermiston for a 40 mile ride. Aaron, Missy, me and the new member of Team Tweekers, Greg went on a little ride. I was assuming we were going on a standard 20 mile ride like normal. Until I saw Aaron loading up will all different kinds of Hammer Nutrition supplements.

Here is a nice little group photo of Aaron, Missy, Me, and Greg. Oh by the way, I really like the Jersey that Aaron just got. I forgot to ask him where he got it and how much. I just know I could never afford one that nice. I wish I could find something like that on sale somewhere..............

Greg is new to this cycling thing, but he is not like must of us. He is some professional, collegic (is that how you spell it?, oh well), multi scholarship winning, athletic, freak of nature. Thats a complement and the truth. I think this was his second time out on a road bike, and he's already able to do 40 miles like its nothing. But wait, he's not riding some five thousand dollar plus machine, oh no, hes on a borrowed bike. The bike has been named "Purple Thunder". And if you can zoom in on the bartape, those are skulls your seeing, This bike is a 1988 Dave Scott Centurian Iornman machine. Back in the day this bike was the S*%T. This bike kicked my butt this afternoon.

I had a flat today. No big deal but I think I jinxed myself because I asked Aaron minutes earlier if he's had many flats this season. I had the only spare tube, so it was a quick fix. Well it should have been. I got a little winded trying to pump up the tire with the little pump so Aaron offered to help. Well lets just say he got a little aggressive with the pump and broke the schrader valve off in the pump. We called M who was watching all the kids and she was able to come and save us, with a new tube and lots of water. Thanks dear....

Myself and Aaron just cycling along. Good shot of Aaron, not so good of me. I look sick, actually I think I had a small case of heat exhaustion. I did not properly hydrate yesterday on the boat, and I payed for it today. Started getting the cold sweats and then the last 4 miles I stopped sweating. Good times.

Man, this post seems long, Blah, Blah, Blah, I'm done.

Paterson Hill

2009-05-31T20:34:00.000-07:00

Just so I dont forget. I set a PR for my favorite ride up the hill, 12:35. If I didn't write it down I would forget it.

Relaxation

2009-05-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

Nothing spells relaxation after a hards day work like mowing the pasture.

Top 5

2009-05-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, just got home and thought I'd let you know how it went today. Lets just say that swimming's for losers. I hate it, I suck at it, and I dont want to do it again. Soooo. I got that off my chest.

I managed to swim like a normal person for 1/3 of the swim and then flipped to my back for the last 2/3's. I wanted to quit so bad but I really didnt want to be dragged back to shore by a kayak. Luckily the wet suit saved me big time. I was able to float and just paddle on my back. I know I was zig zaging down the course because everytime I fliped back to my stomach I was way off course, so I had to readjust. By the time a made it to the end I was so happy, I didnt even care that I was one of the last to exit the water.

I transitioned well and got on the bike and did what I expected, passed alot of people. It made it very fun to have alot of people in front of me, so it gave me something to chase down. I believe I finished the bike in about 12th position.

The run was as predicted as well. I felt good (well kinda) right off the bike and was able to run a 6:30 something average. Kinda like the bike portion, I just picked people off one at a time. There was one group that was running together and all three of them were in my age group (40-49) so it was nice to get three for the price of one.

I ended up having a good day. It definitely started off very bad. I know I need to do some swimming and have someone show my how to.

It will be interesting to see the split times, and see how slow I really was in the swim. I will post a link to the results here http://www.buduracing.com/raceresults.php .

I wasnt able to get many action pictures, but heres a couple of me on the run and bike. And no I did not take my phone with me on the swim.

Thanks for the comments, I really appreciate it.

This is so stupid

2009-05-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I'm doing this. Just get me out of the water quickly.

got 2 tri ?

2009-05-21T21:35:00.000-07:00

Well I guess I'm going to Moses Lake on monday (Memorial Day) to try out my first triathlon. This is a sprint Tri, so the distances are shorter, so short that my daughter could probably do it. I figured I had to start somewhere. Oh by the way, not sure about the swimming part. I can't remember when the last time I swam more than the length of a pool. Oh yea, never. I'm planning on going out in the new boat on saturday so that will be a chance for me to see if I can actually swim and try out the new wetsuit. I told some of my bestest friends, the ones who got me started in this mess to come and have fun with me. Its been a few days since I've heard from them, weird.......

SUCCESS

2009-05-18T19:31:00.000-07:00

Made it home with a follower.