Tuesday, February 16, 2010

bathroom guttage

i've finally mustered (or is it mustarded?) up the confidence and will to start tackling the rest of the renovations needed on the main floor of our little house. the bathroom has needed help since the day we stepped foot in our dwelling and we've been concentrating on the ceilings and kitchen for so long that it got neglected. not anymore though, yesterday i finally ripped into it and now we have to go to the basement to use "le toilet." it's a little scary down there but i think we'll be okay just having to use it for the rest of the week. the big question that my wife and i have been debating on is tile or linoleum?? at one point we had purchased everything needed to tile both the kitchen and bathroom floors but then got the stuff home and didn't like the way it looked with our choice of wall color. so last night we made a quick trip to topeka to make some decisions.

when we got there we thought...we'll run in home depot, grab the first thing that looks good, leave, get some chipotle in our bellies and go home. not the case, as per usual with picking out things that are going to be permanent in the place you call home. home depot was quite disappointing with their selection so then we headed to lowes where we had success. they have these armstrong laminate tiles that have an adhesive backing and you can grout between them just like real ceramic tile. we found a color that we both could "live with" and that was that. this will create much less dust in our house and will allow me to cut the tiles with a utility knife if need be. but the plus side to it all is that it will have the appearance of tile...but it didn't cost half as much it would to install tile.

so today i am tackling the patching and painting aspect of the job in the bathroom and hopefully can have the floor laid and toilet reinstalled by thursday or friday at the latest.

all this aside my riding has not been going nearly as well as others here in the community and i really need to get back in gear. i had a good couple of weeks there but my zest has fallen to the way side. no excuses to be made except that i have no excuse. races are fast approaching, ouachita is in about 6 weeks to be exact, so my legs and lungs need to be in order. hopefully i can get some time in on the bicycle today while i'm taking a break from the bathroom. renovation that is...:).

in other news the new bike shop is coming along really well. the framing is all finished on the new office and bathroom and this weekend about 7 of us ripped up the old flooring and under layment. i never want to see another 4x8 sheet of plywood with tiles attached to it again. we worked for about 5 hours straight, all 7 of us, going nuts on that stuff and there were a million nails to be pulled as well. yesterday we met up with the guys from the construction company doing the framing and they brought a dump truck to haul off all the flooring. so needless to say, a big part of the project is finished, behind us, and we couldn't be happier about it. if you pray, and are into that sort of thing, ask the Big Guy to help things go as smoothly as they possibly could from here on out at the new bike shop. not that things have been a nightmare down there or anything, but we can always use some help. we're still trying for a march 1st opening, so we'll keep working hard and hoping for the best. can't wait to see people coming through the doors down there.

Monday, February 8, 2010

ah kansas, you are so beautiful

just in case you were wondering, no my bike did not sell on ebay last week. and if you are feeling saucy (or sorry for me) then it is still for sale, and i honestly feel like the price i had it at is practically giving the beauty away. anyway, if you know anyone that needs a sexy off road machine, please send them to kansascampfire.blogspot.com thank you.

there is much to tell of the past week in the life that surrounds me and the bike culture that is emporia, ks, so lets get this thing started already.

eric benjamin (been jammin) and i finally decided (i say finally but honestly it only took us about 5 seconds to make up our minds) that "kansas bicyclist" magazine needed to become a reality. and in the way that most things in my life manifest themselves it happened rather quickly and things needed to be done in some of the worst weather possible. if you go here you shall see where the inspiration for "kansas bicyclist" was incarnated on ol' adventure monkey's site. and if you go here you shall see more photos like this one that were taken on the day that this grand realization began to take form.

yeah thats me standing on top of one of the steepest hills known to man-kind in the tri-county area, smack dab on the edge of the flint hills. as you can tell i was so excited to get out there and freeze that i forgot to where tights, shoe covers or a balaclava. all resulting in my feet, ears and lower extremities being colder than i can remember in the last...oh lets say...20 years of my life. eric wanted the shot for the magazine to be on a cold, overcast and snowy day in kansas to catch the contrast of the latest cover shot on "bicycling" magazine and i do believe that we couldn't have picked a nastier or more perfect day than last friday if we had wanted to. we're going to see what comes of this beautifully crafted photo shoot as soon as the adventure monkey deems the final product worthy of human (or bloggers) eyes.

we couldn't get back to the bike shop fast enough for me to rip my muddy shoes and socks off to shove my feet in the nearest air vent to try and break loose the icicles that had forged my toes together. of course everyone laughed at us, but we didn't care because we had obviously just conquered the world in our minds and if eric asked me...you know i'd do it again man. that's just how we roll around here. lelan knows what i'm talkin 'bout.

oh and by the way...my beautiful wife and i aren't going to have the house to ourselves anymore around aug. 24th. and we couldn't be happier about it.
-bobby