Got Lice?


Coral had a headful of the little suckers...picked up at school on the 1st day. We've cleansed all the bedding, tried chemical shampoos (twice)...

...and thus far, Coral is the only one who's got nits.

Thus far.

Wish any of the local hair places would cut her hair, this would make dealing with the nits much easier. As for myself, I can always shave me own head by my lonesome.

Homebrewed a battery pack for my bike light. Works no worse than the one it came with. I have light for the majority of my trip. Guess I have to make do for now.

Nitehawk Pheonix: Came with a 5 cell NiMh battery pack, and a fader switch. Cost: about 200$ retail. 1st year: the fader switch shorted out, I cut it out and bridged the cable. 2nd year: battery pack began to lose burn time, and the connector plug tore loose. Re-did the connector and the waterproofing. Third year: battery pack runtime is reduced to less than 30 mins.

I may have to play around with the homebrew battery. I have it rigged with 4 AA cells in series to supply 6 volts. I may put together another one and wire 'em both in paralell. In theory (and it's been years since I studied that!) this should supply the same voltage; but for a longer time.

I hope.

The other issue is the cells themselves. They're rechargeable alkaline - hence the limited burn time - and the charger I have for them only charges two at a time. I have a charger for NiCad cells, but NiCad is more expensive.

Speaking of bikes: I comitted a random act of kindness over the weekend. It's getting much more difficult these days to commit a genuinely random act of kindness; what with peoples' general lack of trust for helpful strangers.

I was riding home on saturday after work, climbing up 84th ave. I met a young man named Bobby, who had run his bike into the back end of a car a few days before. As it happens, (and as I may have previously mentioned here) I know how to field repair that particular mishap. I told Bobby so, and then thought further and invited him and his girlfriend Rebecca to follow me the two blocks to my place; where I had the parts and tools to do a proper fix.

So I fixed it. Replaced the bent front fork with one just like it. Fixed the front brakes too...

A touch I particularily enjoyed was re-seating the bearing cup on the lower end of the head tube with a piece of solder wire. Impromptu, I know, but it worked.

Colin scared us yesterday. Wound up in hospital too.

He was playing at Darnell's house when Darnell's dad called L to report that Colin was coughing up a storm and his nose was running something awful. L suspected something might be wrong, and her instincts were right: by the time she got Colin home, he was wheezing and struggling for breath and his nose was blocked completely. I don't know...but it looked like an asthma attack.

L called 911. As the paramedics are just down the street at the EMS hall, their response was almost immediate. Colin got oxygen and a ride to the SMH ER. After a series of tests and some observation time; the MD's could tell us...nothing.

Anyway, he's not wheezing now but he IS really sick...and still stuffed up. L kept him home from school today. We'll see what happens.

Floyd Landis:

As I write this, I have no idea whether the final verdict is in or not. I do hope he's vindicated; but either way, the credibility...or perhaps "purity"(?) of professional cycling may be damaged forever.

Three reasons why I don't think he cheated:

1. Synthetic testosterone doesn't have that kind of performance enhancing effect...that I am aware of.

2. I don't trust the UCI...or the "independent" agency responsible for regulating banned and controlled substances .

3. He didn't have to cheat. Floyd was one of the first pro riders to use the powertap(tm) device in training and in competition, and the telemetry for that entire stage is available. The physical effort required for that day's performance was well within his known physical limits. The result only looked "superhuman" in comparison to: (1) his awful performance the previous day and (2) the fact that nearly everyone else in the peloton was as tired as he was. Also: no-one else used the same strategy that day as Floyd and team Phonak did.

I could be absolutely wrong about this...but I'll presume innocence until absolute proof shows up that Floyd wasn't bushwhacked by some sort of misguided euro-centric zealot working for the UCI.

My new nephew Jacob was born 10 days ago (Aug. 30). I have seen him, he's a beautiful baby boy. As only newborns can be, he is just so darned cute. Grant will probably give his son a name and a blessing today. I've been skipping church lately...I'm a bad boy.
L is going out with her folks and Granpa to the Delta Town'n Country Inn. They serve a decent brunch. Mom-in-law Trude is having kittens over the possibility that Granpa will make a scene at the restaurant.

Coral wants to take guitar lessons...and borrow mommy's "axe". No dice. She's already into the Tae Kwon Do dojang for 500$ clams, thankewverymuch.

Colin is now reading at his level. Maybe a little above. L is still working with him daily, and she says that he surprises her sometimes.

I...still have to lay another coat of paint on the deck. I've been using Bob's paint gun to speed the process somewhat. Portions of the deck rail are beyond hope and will have to be dismantled and re-done. Thus far, I only have to re-secure one post and re-build one section of the railing. This round of painting is to try to keep ahead of the rot.

Rode the bike this week. Five of six days means another 100+ km on the clock. I am feeling pretty good. Still haven't finished the cyclocross bike, but I have figured out a way to re-mount the original brakes so they won't break loose.

We really need to make another run to the dump. Renovations will pick up again once we have some spare ca$h again. The Tae Kwon Do lessons were a major hit to our monthly expenses.

Ah well, at least Coral is happy (for now). The Grrrl-age is in training to become a teenager.