My Bliss

a place for everything and everything in its place

The kitchen sucked...warm air, that is. The linoleum was nasty and poorly installed, the kitchen-as-hallway-to-the-basement was a tired concept, four linear feet of counters and cabinets just weren't enough, the RCA brand appliances from who-knows-what-year were crusty, and the candle sputtered as we held it in front of the dishwasher during one of last winter's sub-zero spells...the cold air spread from behind it out across the kitchen floor in the same way the evil spirits crept across the ground in that Charleton Heston movie dammit, I can't remember the name....

Straw. Camel's back. You know.

After six years of that kitchen, we dove into the remodel last fall and got some other maintenance issues out of the way as well. The bulk of the work happened from mid-October to Mid-December. Everything went smoothly, no contractor horror stories. We couldn't be happier.

I figured the timing was fine: done with grad school. But what I hadn't banked on was my need to take care of everything I'd put on the back burner for a year and a half during school: financial papers, old clothes, files, storage boxes in the basement. Just when I figured life would be getting back to normal, I instead found myself on deadlines for kitchen demo, for emptying a storage closet that may become a bathroom one day, for moving furniture out of the way, for scraping paint off difficult-to-replace trim...appliance shopping?! Bah. We lived in the midst of boxes and dust between runs to the kitchen place and Home Depot. The back burner pot got larger.

It drove me crazy.

The contractor's lock box is still out on the deck, but we've had our house back since December 15th. Christmas vacation was finally spent in my version of heaven: cleaning closets, sorting through dressers, and straightening the basement tool shed. Then I sent stuff on its way to Goodwill.

This past weekend it was my office.

I even got to dust.

- OB Nirvana

It's a Kitchen

More photos.

- The happy Old Bag

2008 Recap

Recapping the past year seems to be a common theme among bloggers this time of year. Goals met and missed. Stats for the year. Ride amounts. Monthly highlights. How 2008's mileage stats compare to '07's totals. How 2009 will differ.

I think the last time I kept a running total was in 2000. Over the years, I've found my cycling life gradually expanding and more difficult to track.

Everyone knows mountain biking totals can't be combined with road riding totals...miles over pine needles, leaves and stumps just don't add-up in the same way.

Do grocery-getting miles translate? My position on the beater is less efficient, thus creating more drag. The headset is pitted, so the bicycle really tries to use the shortest distance to get from Point A to Point B. And, there are resistance, weight and balance issues when hauling full Arkel packs home from Cub Foods and let's face it, any miles done with a baguette sticking out are plain stupid and should be thrown out.

My commuting miles start off as bleary-eyed, caffeine-starved wobbles over limestone-covered railbeds on their way to a day of patiently waiting, only to do the same damned thing whilst going the other direction later on. How do miles zig-zagging down the road with a bulging daypack stack up? Depending on the time of year, I'm either on thin knobbies or studded tires that weigh a ton.

And, touring miles...leisurely-coasting, beer-drinking, burger-sopping, sun-drenched, napping-next-to-the-beach miles put in while yakking-up new acquaintances on a week-long escape....it seems one of these miles should count half of what a regular mile would, yet I come back from one of these trips in phenomenal shape...maybe each of these miles counts for two?

-OB it's all so confusing