I Lost My Virginity

My 90 degree virginity for this year, that is. I spent all day biking and working at the duplex in the nasty 90-degree heat. So far this year, when it's gotten that hot, I've stayed inside where there's air conditioning, but this time I ventured out to work and play. There's some question as to whether the maximum temperature was 89 degrees or 90 degrees, so depending on the actual value, the weather may have only made it to third base with me, but regardless, I'm flushed.

Just for the sake of nothing, I'm going to detail the weekend vaguely backwards. The second half of Father's Day, I went on a 35.5 mile bike ride. Snelling > Nokomis (around) > Harriet (around 1.5 times) > Calhoun (around 2.5 times) > Lake of the Isles (once). I went around a few times to burn off time, because I was supposed to meet Pooteewheet and Eryn for dinner at the Calhoun Chipotle, and to get some wind practice, because it was crazy windy as you headed south by 5:00.

Things I saw that were of interest:

• Lots of 4-wheel bikes with six people on them at both Minnehaha Park and Nokomis. They were out in force today.
• Old guy sitting on the shore of Minnehaha Creek talking to no one. Then you realize he's talking to his old buddy who's half naked and sitting in the creek.
• Lots of kids and canoers in the creek, lots of squealing. Some time to enjoy the happiness while I chatted with a kid whose Dad was dropping him. I told him to make sure he checked his tire pressure before he rode next time as he was spending a lot of time in the pedals, and his Dad wasn't going as fast as he thought he was.
  
• Two lines of people flanking the bike path at Lake Nokomis chanting "biker, biker, biker", apparently for no reason whatsoever. It caused the old woman I was riding next to to veer off onto the grass, at which point she lost the old man riding next to me, who was swallowed by the crowd. I'm pretty sure they ate him - there was a lot of barbecuing going on, and I could smell teriyaki.
• A walker going the wrong way on the bike path on Lake Calhoun. I don't care if you can't speak English, your first clue should be the big arrow pointing the other direction, the second clue should be all the bikers going the other direction, the third clue should be all the walkers going your direction on a different path. Someone DIED on one of the lakes after a bike-pedestrian crash in 1972 - it's why they have separate trails.
• A house on Lake of the Isles that must be worth more than a million...easy. It was beautiful - all sorts of Japanese landscaping, any bush of which probably cost more than the garage door I'm so proud of. In front of it, the world's biggest RV. You own that house, and you're going somewhere in an RV? And you're inflicting the RV on your neighbors? I hope it was there because you were getting home and were going to take it to the offsite storage. I worry you park it in front of the house of some off-lake neighbor.
• Two girls with tiny swimsuits walking on the pedestrian path on Calhoun, their swimsuits wedging. Is that a term already? Or can I copyright it? Actually, I don't know if they were wedging from the back, I was going the wrong way. But based on the three old guys following them and drooling, I suspect they were.
• Nokomis - sort of immigranty and white-trashy (I'm not equating or drawing any parallels whatsoever, it's just a fact...immigrants and white trash, it was who was at the lake) - but a very nice Lamborghini driving the circle and scoping the betties (begs for another word given the audience at Nokomis, but I'm sure someone else can think of something). Harriet - middle aged women and people with dogs. Convertible Lamborghini, driving the circle and scoping the Lenas. I expected to see a gold-plated Lamborghini by the time I reached Lake of the Isles.
• Russian teenager at the water pump, checked out my package. Bike shorts make it unavoidable? or actually checking out of my junk? Really disturbing either way.
• A bike that looked strangely familiar on the north end of Calhoun. Then a black-haired woman lounging against a tree, on her back, with her feet against the tree. Didn't get a good look though, because I was worried I'd be late for dinner. Could have been Hedy, I think she frequents the area.
• And some other blogger, although I can't find it at home, it must be on my work aggregator, noted how nice it was to be able to just stop by the Harriet Bandshell. You can stop by the Harriet Bandshell if you're from Dakota County, you just have to bike the 16 miles to get there - it's a bonus. See - Lake Harriet Bandshell, skeletal dinosaur.

I've got a good video of the wind. You can hear the wind, and all the tack from the boots jangling, and see some of the waves, although there were whitecaps on the north end of Calhoun.


So...back in time. This morning, for six hours, my brother and I fixed all the Section 8 issues with the duplex. Some creative brickwork to solve a concreting problem, lots of lights, next wood framing on a kitchen window, looking at the several month-old stove that's already gunking up and not running because of the amount of frybread consumed (every time I'm there - the light fixtures in the kitchen are beginning to feel like they have a protective alien coating), and cutting branches, which Pooteewheet was kind enough to manage, including snipping them all up and spreading round up in the appropriate places. She also mowed today while I biked. Excellent Father's Day presents, although I'm also very happy with the Marvin the Martian teapot she and Eryn bought me.

Yesterday evening, Stone Arch Art Festival to meet my inlaws at Pracna on Main so we could drop off the truck they loaned us while both cars were in the shop (ugh). They were there to show off my father in law's car at the car show. At one point, Pooteewheet said, "Hey, isn't that xxxxxx, the realtor who found us our house, and the teacher who was my student-teacher mentor, and my teacher from high school, and his wife?" I yelled, "HEY, XXXXXX." And it was. Lot of cool bicycle art at the festival. I wish I had some disposable income to buy some wall decorations, but I was there because I'd had two cars in the shop, so you might well suspect where the money went.

Yesterday morning/afternoon - the company picnic at Como Park. Very hot. Saw a few coworkers. Some of them saw me. Here's me and Eryn taking a turn on the horses.

Here's Pooteewheet and Eryn behind Ming and Logan. A moment later, Pooteewheet and Eryn vacated. I suspect Ming farted.
And here's the sibling of that dinosaur from Calhoun. I had company, so I could appropriately touch him in an inappropriate place. Note how I'm very considerate and don't do it until Eryn is pointed the other way. I'm not considerate of Eryn. I'm considerate of me. If she caught me, she'd ask a lot of questions and I'd have to answer them.