I rode my bike to work for the first time in a long time. I haven't been lazy, just trying to break out of vacation mode. It was good to be back in the saddle and my knees didn't bother me that much. Upon arrival, I increased my lifting regimen (which I have also been slacking on) so that the next time I'm at the gym, I should be back to my normal schedule.
I've mentioned before that Monday is $5 burger day at the South Riding Inn. I wasn't planning on heading out, but I did anyway. During lunch we got into a brief discussion on "working from home" and whether you get more done or not. One of the contractors mentioned that the last time he said he worked from home and ended up playing hooky was on January 6th. I asked him if he played hooky to go to Mass in celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany (he's Italian from New Jersey which led me to believe he was Catholic) and he replied that religion meant nothing to him. Since I knew he celebrated Christmas, I asked him whether he did.
"Of course!" he replied, rather curtly.
"Why do you celebrate Christmas if religion means nothing for you?" I asked.
"We do it for the kids," he responded, again in a curt manner.
"Oh, I see," was all I said, but if you celebrate something that holds no meaning for you, shouldn't you question why? I thought to myself, not wanting to continue this thread.
I try and avoid interacting with this guy in general as he's very much of an in-your-face kind of guy who's the expert on all subjects and whose kids are the best on their respective teams and tops in the class. Anything they do must be shared with the rest of the team, but should you try and get a word in about your own, it's passed over while he talks about what he (or they) did in relation to that. Whatever. The only reason I went to lunch was that I didn't know he was going; had I known, I would've passed. Next time I'll be rude and inquire as to who's going. Or maybe I'll call him on his hypocrisy. Or, better yet, maybe I'll just keep my mouth shut. What others do with their lives is none of my business (until it effects me in a personal manner, that is).
On my way home I finally ran into trouble in the form of a flat tire. I've been jumping the curb at this one spot ever since I started going home on 50 and have never had a problem. Today was the end of that. As I rode over the curb and into the grass, I felt the back tire give way. By the time I was in the service road, there was no question about it, my tire was flat. Fortunately I carry a tire patching kit, so I set about to repair it. One hole led to another and it appeared I got them all as the tire held air. I reset the tube and started riding again, but it soon appeared there was another leak that I wasn't able to detect. Instead of troubleshooting it on the road, I gave up and called D for a ride home. Later on, the kids and I went out and got a couple new tubes and a pair of tire liner strips from REI (as well as a new helmet). Hopefully that will prevent any further flats on my commute. One is more than enough.
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