School Supplies

There are some things that occur that remind you that you were meant to parent; I love to shop for school supplies!! My years as a child were filled with Trapper Keepers, fandangled mechanical pencils, Toughskin Jeans, and Bully Repellent (I think it is made from the essence of video game programmers and mental hospital counselors ((just kidding Ryan!!!)). Anyway, my wife and I took the girls to that shrine of Chinese Capitalism/modern day slave labor, Wal-Mart. The smell of round tipped scissors and glue sticks is intoxicating to a parent whose oldest kids are about to start at the same school. The deluge of creatively drawn yet insanely adorable art projects will cover a thousand fridges. There are no more Trapper Keepers, even fewer pairs of Toughskins (by the grace of God!!) yet the fear of Nerd Hades (it's a real place with Deke from Saved By the Bell as Satan!) is gone. Certainly, Tom Hanks said it best in You've Got Mail: "Don't you love New York in the Fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would buy you a bouquet of sharpened pencils..."

The Tour de France

So, the Tour started last week. I am going to blog my thoughts out whether I am the only person I know that cares or not. Issue 1: Should the organizers of the Tour (ASO) have allowed the Astana Team to compete? Perhaps; I think that French Nationalism won out along with the covetous, overbearing attitude the French have towards their Grand Boucle (which no Frenchman has won since The Badger, Bernard Hinault, in 1985). Issue 2: What bearing does Manuel Beltran's positive test for EPO have on the Tour? Only good news for the American Squads. Both Columbia and Garmin-Chipotle have conducted their own testing controls in addition to the standards set forth by the Governing bodies of cycling since their respective inceptions. The fact that riders from their squads inhabit four of the top ten positions shows that clean teams can overcome the dirty riders. Manuel Beltran was placed 37th, almost 3 minutes behind when he was kicked out of the Tour, obviously no threat for overall GC victory, so why cheat anyway? And, oh yes Ryan, I am watching everyday.

Word Up! Up Up!!

After reading Cheyney's latest post, I'm all a twitter with 80's nostalgia. Does Cameo ring any bells? Anyway, word for the day:
weltanschauung • \VELT-ahn-show-ung ("ow" as in "cow")\ • noun, often capitalized

: a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world especially from a specific standpoint

Given his history of questionable race conduct, Stefan Schumacher displayed his obtuse weltanschauung when he implicated Kim Kirchen as the reason for his crash today in Stage 6 of the Tour de France.

Fireworks psyche-out

They almost got us! Our town, what a bunch of chuckleheads! Tonight Jenny and the Girls and I went to see the fireworks display in our little town. We went to the ballfields, where we thought the vantage point would be good, and eventual escape would be swift and relatively unimpeded. We arrived at 8:30, the advertised time for commencement of firework action. 9 came and went, 9:30 slid past, finally, at 9:50, we packed up and drove for home. Then, almost from a bad July the 4th movie script, the aerial display began, reflected in our rear-view mirror. That was okay; we pulled into a creepy looking, deserted parking lot, locked the doors and watched through the windows. The Girls had enough after about 15 minutes and we came home. Our babes were super tolerant. We got psyched out like 5th Grade yo!