Well the year is half over. I guess I’ve done about half the things I wanted to this year. I certainly got alot of stuff done, and there’s certainly still alot of stuff to do.
One thing in the last half of June is finally stopped raining and went straight up to 100 degrees. It’s been above ninety most days the last week and a half. Last Saturday, right at the start of the heat wave, we had a barbecue and a party, but everyone stayed indoors until early evening when it was time to light the grill. Luckily (or by good planning) we put in the front air conditioner the night before. Kathleen and the kids came down, and so did Lizzy and Josh. Nick and Lisa and Geo and Sara came out from Long Island, and a couple of Lizzy’s friends and their boyfriends turned up too. Burgers, dogs, chicken, salads and desserts, beer and booze. Built a fire once if got dark. A great time.
Jeannie and I both had last Friday off, and it turned out to be the one cool day, so we got back into doing long bike rides. I did my usual sixteen miles, and for the first time this season broke 14mph as my average speed to reach 14.1! Probably because it was less crowded than on a weekend, so I didn’t have to slow down as often. Overall I’ve been feeling good physically. I don’t know if it’s because of the heat, or massive doses of vitamin D every time I go outside, but I’ll take it. For the last year or so I’ve been having low-grade pain in the joints of my shoulders, elbows and fingers, and that’s suddenly gone away. I think part of the reason is the handlebars on my new bike are better ergonomically. Anyway, I’m back up to 115 lbs. on my free weight dumbbells and 196 on bench press. Hoping to reach 120/200 by the end of the year.
Sunday we finally got a beach day after a couple times when the situation wasn’t right. Jeannie and I took our bikes with us and Michelle came along but mostly worked on her tan. We went to Robert Moses State Park on Fire Island. We wanted to go East from the bridge and check out the inlet, but there was no way to get there by bike, only by car on the highway or walking several miles on the beach. So we went to opposite way, past the lighthouse and biked around Kismet, a cute little beach town where they don’t have cars. Fun and interesting perceptive.
Now we’re well into summer and trying to make our plans for July and August and beyond. This weekend I made the schedule for the upcoming OUSA convention, using software I wrote with Robert Lang a few years back. I think we pretty much have all the kinks worked out by now, and everything went smoothly.