It’s funny how Fridays just keep coming and coming.  I usually don’t pay much attention to what day of the week it is.  (I know that sounds weird, but it’s true.)   That only applies when I’m not racing.  When I am racing, I’m very cognizant of the day.  And it really doesn’t matter that it is Friday again, for me today.  I’m not going to be doing anything different tomorrow than I’m doing today.

Today is going to be the 5th day in a row I haven’t ridden my bike.  It has been wicked cold, here in Denver, with snow cover on the roads.  Vincent suggested that I take his fatbike out this afternoon and ride a little off-road.  That sounds like a great plan, but I know how that goes.  It goes like, I get caught up in something I’m doing and the afternoon disappears.

This morning there is an inspector coming by to check out the shower pan.  It seems weird that there is a shower pan inspection, compared to other aspects of home owner construction that there is no inspection for.   All you have to do is show that the shower pan holds 2 inches of water, without leaking and, I guess, drains out through the drain, ie. slant underneath.  Mine is fine I think.

A couple days ago I got wrangled into “helping” Vincent install a couple TV’s at a remodel.  Vincent did that for a while, install low voltage wiring in new construction.  He’s doing this for a friend.  Man, was it a job.  I had to drill holes through 13 inches of rock and brick, then mount a TV bracket flat on the rock.  It was a pretty challenging job.  I have no idea if the 1 inch masonry bit was just wasted or the rock that hard, but it took forever.

Today, after the inspection, I’m going to finish the shower pan and then maybe lay radiant heating mat and tile the whole area.  We can’t install the drywall until the framing inspector comes by, and that seems to be tougher to schedule that the plumbing.

Jinglecross  starts today in Iowa City.  I would be going there, just to watch, if I was around Kansas.  I love the race and it is a very spectator friendly place to watch cross.   It is the 11th year of the race.  I’ve done it every year, other than when I was hurt, or once when I was roofing my building during the winter.  I’m going to be torn following the race from here.

Random fun fact.  Apple stock is really doing some big moves the last week.  I read that the value of Apple, the company, is more than the whole Russian stock market.  That means, if you sold all the Apple stock, you could buy all the stock of every publicly traded company listed on the Russian stock market.   Plus, you’d have enough extra money to buy each person in Russian a new iPhone 6 plus.  Man, that is a lot of money.

Okay, I think I need to get going.  Vincent is calling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can’t believe it has been a week since I rode last.  That was in Seattle and I haven’t even put my bike together yet.  It’s sitting in Vincent’s garage in the bike bag still.

Man, does a week go super fast.  Actually, now that I think about more, it seems like it has been a super long week.

It’s pretty usual that snow sits a week on the ground,  the front range here in Colorado, especially in November.   That maybe isn’t the only reason I haven’t ridden.  Well, yes it is, now that I think about it.  I could always take a couple hours out of the day to ride.  Plus, I have much more energy when I ride some during the day.

I’ve been following the Jingle Cross results a little.  I can barely stand it.  It is probably my favorite cross weekend of the year.  If you’ve never been there, then you should sometime.   Brian Matter looks to be going great, after his Iceman Cometh win, finishing 3rd and 5th so far.

I got a little bummed when I got an email with a Strava alert and it said that Ned Overend road the 2nd fastest lap somewhere in New Mexico.  I clicked on it and, yep, Ned must be racing cross.  Makes me jealous.

Yesterday went pretty badly, construction-wise.  I was screwing up the backer board most of the morning, with the intention of tiling later.  I don’t know what happened exactly, but the tiling never got started.  We ate a super dinner that Lisa cooked, some pesto stuffed chicken, and then went downstairs to tile.  I had planned to work late into the night, but that didn’t materialize.

I mixed up a bunch of thinset, let it sit while I was measuring the floor for tile.  I marked a few tile to cut around the drain and when I went to use the tile saw, it wouldn’t start.  Nothing.  Man, that put a huge dent in the job process when the tile saw doesn’t cut tile.  Like it comes to a standstill.

Vincent proceeded to to disassemble the tile saw and found that it was missing a brush, so he couldn’t fix it because he didn’t have the appropriate brush sitting around.

So, I took the batch of thinset and put down some Ditra membrane, which supposedly keeps the tile from cracking, something like a slipsheet.  I’ve never used Ditra, only cement board, but we are tiling a cement floor, so putting concrete board down would be redundant I guess.

Vincent came back with a new tile saw this morning, so the coast is clear to actually make some progress.

I hope to watch some of the Superprestige Asper-Gavere, on video later today since I missed it live this morning.  Don’t tell me who won.