Family - Talked to my Dad this past week and seems like they're doing good. I'm sure getting ready for the holidays and my Mom's bday on the 7th (also Pearl harbor Day). On a related note, I completed all of my family and friends Christmas shopping in one fell swoop this past Saturday. It's a single gift item, but one for each person. I designed it myself and phoned it all in. It'll take a couple of weeks for it to arrive, but it should be in plenty of time. Now, I only need to finalize a creative way to wrap them all (I prefer not using wrapping paper as guys never wrap it right, and it seems like a big waste).

Friends - Big news - I completed the LakeFront Brewery Tour. This is the $10 tour, $5 food coupon, fish fry, and polka band all in one. I went with a friend of a friend... someone I met through George's Meet-Up Indie Rock Group. We did it Friday night after work and some more dental grinding for me. We walked quickly from our neighborhood in the cold air of the evening. Once inside the warm, yeasty, confines, it was all beer. Dinner first, then tour tickets, then the tour. Not too much techincal info, but just enough. Plus, after every techincal stop, you get a beer refill stop. Not too shabby. After that, we went to another local bar called "Wolski's". It's a great local watering hole that I just had to check out. All in all, a good night - one that required something greasy and cheesy the next morning.

Work - Progression is not a light-speed occurence, but I do see it happening. That's enough for me at this time. Still, I like the group of people we have assembled and many of the "all-stars" are beginning to show themselves.

Bike - The snow has hit Milwaukee, and most of the Midwest and US. The bikes stayed in the weekend. Getting the Kona ready for its new home, just waiting on some last parts. Bikes come and go. I'd like to get out for some riding/running before the next holiday hits, but the tooth just got refixed, so I'll let all that heal up before pushing it outside in the cold.

A/R - I've been making a conscious effort as of late to not accept grocery bags at stores. I carry a TJ's re-usable bag for groceries, otherwise it's usually a purchase of one to a few items, and there's no need for a plastic bag for this - I mean, it just goes from the store, to my car, to home, then usually gets used within hours. A bag is silly. However, I've now run out of bags... which isn't such a big deal, but it hurts a person like me who sorts and bags all of his recycling. Luckily, I just got some paper bags from WholePaycheck b/c I forgot my TJ's bag. Nuts and Yea!

Not feelin' like writin'.

Good holiday, here's the highlights:
- Pre-Brined turkey from Trader Joe's, GOOD.
- Turned 33. You didn't wish me "Happy Birthday" yet? Shame on you.
- Went for a ride on the new bike this past Sunday. Smooth.
- Work is busy and will remain so.

Gobble, gobble...

... let's keep this short this time. Perhaps I can catch up with many of you in person this coming TurkeyWeek. Sweet as pie.

Family - Busy busy busy getting ready for the holiday at the Kator house. So, I'll be staying at the Boyle's house. They have the double tall aerobed that will become Uncle Marty's room for the duration. I do have to be ready to be woken up about 6AM every morning, usually with a "BOO!", but it's worth it; a tradeoff I'll gladly accept. Also, Jes doesn't know it yet, but I intend to bring some laundry and use their big machines while I'm in town. I mean, the plethora of quarters needed at my building are getting old.

Friends - So, the big birthday dinner is a no-go. It just wasn't going to happen this year with people's travel plans and the fact that I'm in Milwaukee. I think it'll end up that I have dinner with some peeps in Chicago while I'm down for the holiday. This will be fun too. I mean, it's not like I still need a kid's party and an adults party... I am going to be 33. It's ok, I'll buy myself some presents and beers and move on.

I hope I can see most everyone this coming week in the city, but I think I'll miss seeing Jenny most. She's going to be in K3 and we won't get to have breakfast at France's. This is one of the best breakfast spots in the city, and a place we like to go to... just on our own... to gossip about everyone else... no, not really :)

Bike - So, it's done. The new 29er. If I ever get a digital camera, I can post some pics of all my bikes. I went out yesterday for about 45 min on it. It rode very nicely - no hands and all. It's mostly Johnny Cash black except for a few of the company parts which come in pimpin' white. Also, my brother Matt's gonna get the green Kona back. I have to put parts back onto it, but it should happen pretty easily.

Work - Work? It's like a 2 day work week. I'm taking Wednesday off and coming to Chicago. Work will be interesting next week when we all get back... but then we have Christmas break to look forward to. Ho ho ho.

A/R - So, have you ever cleaned the little plasctic cap on your bathroom sink's faucet? Well, I've done it a few times when I move into a new place. It's the clear plastic cap that covers the ball-socket that controls the hot-cold flow of water. It gets gummed up with all kinds of dirt, dust, hair, etc. So, you just pry it up, spray it all down with glass cleaner or what have you, and put it back together. Good as new, and I think it even keeps me cleaner - it must, right?

Fish Fry and Riding Weekend...

Family - I'm not sure where to place this topic, but it really is family related... just not mine. I went with Nicole up to Osh Kosh to meet her mom and 2nd hubby. I should have asked more questions prior to Friday night, b/c it turns out I have now met everyone of her 7 sibs save for one brother. I have now even met her grandparents and some aunts and/or uncles. They had a group of about 20, some only attending b/c they heard "fresh blood" was gonna be there. I can't blame 'em either. It was a good WI fish fry, a relaxed time, and unfortunetly, a long night. They don't normally get under way with dinner 'til about 9-9:30PM. And Nicole and I had to drive up & back, which it made it pretty interesting, esp after a fried food dinner {burp}. I'm glad I went, she has a large, excitable group.

Friends - Seems to be pretty low key right now with everyone. Perhaps a brief "catch yer breath" after the last couple weeks. I did get a call from Bret and need to catch up with him. I also sent out a bday invite to everyone for the Turkeyday weekend. It'll be the first up here, and lots of people travel, but if I can get a few, that'll be enough for fun.

Bike - Big news in bike town - I went riding. Yeah, that's right, about 3 hours off-road on a Sunday morning. Now, most of Milwaukee was getting ready for the Packers game... but a co-worker had sent out an email this week for some trails that are almost next to my house. I wanted to get in some riding and meet others. It wasn't too cold out and the group was pretty fast and large (about 12 of us). The trails turned out to be in great shape. Alot of up and down, roots, rocks, and some stinky runoff water spots. But a good loop that I was happy to get a look at with people that have done it before. I'm certainly, horribly out of practice on the MTN bike, but it sort of comes back to you after a half hour or so (kinda like riding...).

To put it over the top, Rachael and John (she's a SRAMmie) came up from Chicago just to ride. It was nice to see them. I'm guessing she'll say something about me on her blog... linked on the leftside of mine ("rachael k"). And just to prove this whole story, that's a new pic of my dirty green Kona. I really did ride. (sorry, cellphone pic)

Work - It's pretty hectic, and will continue to be for some time. We're settling one company into Mil and moving one around in the city. It's keeping me on my toes with all my customers. I'm also trying to plan for the future. It's keeps each week, on the whole, interesting. It should be a busy winter season.

A/R - I just ate the last bit of yogurt out of one of the pint containers, so not the little dingle -single serving sizes, but the BIG one. Before I did, I trimmed off about half of it, as it's too big to really get into with the spoon and I wanted it to be easy to eat out of. Also, I rinse out, thoroughly and with hot water, everything plastic that's going to be recycled. There is one exception, peanut butter jars - it's too tough. I feel bad about it. But, I made up for it a little last night by removing two items Nicole put in the trash, rinsing them, and putting them in the recycling bag. Phew!

Back to normal?

I'm not sure any of us will be "back to normal" this week, but we'll try.

Friends - Well, the last few days have been as good as one could expect. I'm glad, as I know Harold is, to know how good of a group of friends we have. Almost all of us came in for the funeral, to support Harold and his family, and say goodbye to Derick. I couldn't believe the amount of people at the wake (easily over 100 each of the 2 nights). And a very full church for the funeral. The most emotional times for me, and most everyone, were the opportunities for the family and Derick's friends to speak about him, from their hearts, both at the wake and funeral services. As soon as the opportunity was announced at the wake, 5-6 of Derick's close friends made a literal b-line to the lecturn. I couldn't believe how fast they walked up to speak to a room full of people/strangers. That's how much they wanted others to know about how great Derick was in life. I also heard that not only were Derick's co-workers in attendance, but also many of his PT patients. That's pretty cool. And finally, Harold was impressive in such a terrible time. He gave a great thank you to everyone at the wake and you could tell he was almost literally holding up the funeral services on his own. He knows I'll be happy to give him anything he needs at any time. He said he'd pass on a road-trip to Memphis though.

Family - Since I was in Glenview, I had the chance to get lots of family time. [Was this part of someone's bigger plan?] Thursday night I stayed with the Boyles, so that was fun. Friday morning was an off day for Bridget, so we all hung out before the funeral mass. I got to watch both girls eat birthday cake for breakfast. It was pretty funny. I also got to go out to dinner with them on Friday night to Bravo (very good). They had a fun time, and so did I. Friday night, I stayed at my P's house, so it was a good chance to catch up with them. I left Saturday morning, after M&D had gone too. Just the girls were hanging out in front of the TV.

Work - After a busy and stressful 3.5 days last week it was nice that I was given plenty of time to attend the services down in Glenview. I really didn't have any trouble and everyone understood. It was nice not having to deal with extra issues at work on top of the news from Glenview. I hope the coming week isn't too crazy b/c of it. I'm sure I can handle it.

A/V - I was told I should enter one by Tom, after a restaurant incident, but it wasn't that big of a deal. I'm trying to think of one now and will post it if I do. Shouldn't be too hard... Oh, a little follow up, though not entirely new. The windsheild wiper blade still skipped/chattered. I finally just bought another, more expensive, pair. I SoftScrubbed the whole thing one more time and just had the whole car washed at a great place in Evanston. I hope, touch wood, that the next rain event proves to have cured my noisy wiper. Really, you don't know.

Bike - Well, since I last wrote, I have been told by a former coworker (who now co-owns a bike company) that he'll send me a new bike frame. This is great news, and one of the only ways I would be undertaking a new bike project. With that, I've asked some SRAMmies for parts, we'll see if any of this shows this coming week. The weather here is still nice-ish enough to ride around before the real winter begins. I'd like to get another bike done and ride it a bit. And I'm still running, but only twice a week or so. I need to get my teeth fixed (cavities? root canals?) and then feel good enough to run again.

Halloween weekend lives up to billing.

This entry will be a bit different than normal as I'll just go over the last few days...

Friday - Had a great time up in Appleton, WI. "Why?", you ask. Well, I went to a Halloween party with Nicole, thrown by her sister. Everyone was asked to dress up, so I tossed on the Tigger Suit and made it happen. The party was fun, almost too much, so we stayed the night in Appleton and left in the morning.

Saturday - was spent getting back to Milwaukee, nursing not so much a hangover as a night with very little sleep. We had to leave Appleton about 9AM in order to get back in time for Nicole to meet a client. I spent the afternoon resting up, and also, well, not much else. This was done in preparation for the evening... a nice dinner at the self-described "Japanese Fine Dining" establishment in Milwaukee, Izumi. It was good, though we both felt hungry a few hours later, as we watch MAGIC! I surpised Nicole with a live theater show at an old, haunted theater. The magician is well-known locally and has even played Vegas. It was a bit better than local community theater, but I was glad we got comp tickets. It was still fun to surpise Nicole... she had no idea. And, she even enlisted the help of her family during the week, they still counldn't crack it.

Sunday - This is where the more ghoulish nature of the holiday started coming out, and I say this with all seriousness. The morning went off as a normal Sunday morning, but I got a call from George shortly after the Bears' loss. I thought it was just some team lamenting, but got the v-mail a bit later. He said he had bad news and let me know that Harold's brother had been in a bad car accident and had passed away in the very early hours of Sunday. I was not expecting this, to say the least. The rest of the night was spent letting others know, trying to keep my wits about me at Nicole's for dinner, and trying to prepare for the coming week.

Monday - I'm writing this entry currently, with more info to come about funeral arrangments. You can see the Tribune story here - http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-ikefataloct29,0,884284.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout

I hope everyone tells people around them what they mean to them. You truly never know.

Fall is here!!...??

So, in the middle of last week, it was 74 degrees. On Sunday night, I ate dinner, comfortably, outside. While the warm weather feels nice, it doesn't make you feel good about our environment.

Family - big news here was the Annual Kator/Boyle Pumpkin Hunt. I was told about this some time back and havn't been on it in years, maybe 10 or more. Well, I thought I would get on board this train. it would be fun, right?

In a nutshell, yes. But, it has changed over the years. As I remember it, we would take a few family trips up to WI - one for fun in Burlington and a trip to A&W, maybe one to the Monastery, and one more for pumpkins. Well, they do all of them rolled into one day now. I think they get up before sunrise and get home with the rest of the FIB-WI lake house traffic late on Sunday night.

After feeling quite sick ("if yer walkin down the hall...") on Friday and Saturday AND botching a family event for Nicole on Saturday, we both decided to go down on Sunday for pumpkins (thiniking it was maybe a stop at A&W and pumpkins). She drove us down in about 10 minutes from Milwaukee. This is fast, but no problem. We hung out at A&W and waited for the Kator Karavan. Boyles arrived first and I quickly realized this was an all day event. Well, Nicole and I would have to cut it short b/c one of us had a test the next day (hint, not me).

The weather was also about 70 degrees and sunny. This made the pumpkin patch (normally a sedate affair) bustling with everyone and their uncle trying to buy pumpkins. Tom finally corralled a wheelbarrow/wheelbarrel (?) and we filled it with some orange gourds... plus a bale of hay for the Boyle's lawn. Once in line for payment, it didn't take too long and we were all off on our separate ways. All in all, not a bad way to spend an autumnal Sunday afternoon.

[Want to see pics? Go to Vic's blog linked through my page]

Friends - no ill affects from George's weekend visit except some tired eyes on Monday. I agree with George, it's nice to have one weekend day where you just relax at home. Without it, I tend to feel less than rested on Monday morning.

Work - I'd like to pretend this week's update was late b/c I was waiting for the all bike group meeting we just had today (Tu), but that's not true. While everything is moving really fast at work, I'm trying to pin down people (inside and out) to help me decide some big and small issues on a daily basis. It keeps it interesting, that's for sure...esp if they have a fear of needles.

Bike - The stable is not yet put away for the year due to the nice weather of late. So, before really deciding I was sick this past weekend, I went out for a quick city spin on the brown bike. I've got to say, the bike's great and it's been the best way to see more and more of my new city. I've found bike/ped bridges I never knew existed, cool bike paths, new neighborhoods, etc. Not to mention, I usually hit the lakefront for a bit too.

Working on a couple new bike projects - road bike is a must as everyone at work rides them at lunch. And, a 29er bike is in the works (listen up Tom). This is a MTB that has larger diameter wheels (roughly 29", but the same physical rim diameter as a road wheel). The MTB fathers say that they ride much smoother over rough terrain, handle more stable, and can fit some people alot better (e.g. tall people). We make enough parts with the brands here that I can get one going pretty easy. I'm not sure either bike is going to happen based on funds, but maybe. Also, all my bikes (even the ones I'm only thinking about) are now on a very handy Excel spreadsheet with each part, weight, cost, color, etc. it's pretty A/R... speaking of...

A/R - Kinda of a long one - So, this story begins with my "new" truck. When I got it, I put on new wiper blades and decided to try Rain-X. Thought it would be a good double-whammy on vision problems driving in WI and IL. Well, no sooner did rains hit then my driver's side wiper start to chatter like a mo-fo. I can't handle this kind of noise while driving. After a couple window washes, and wiper blade wipe downs - no getting rid of the noise or Rain-X film. This stuff sticks like Teflon. I emailed Rain-X to see what they recommmend. Turns out, SoftScrub is the tool of choice for this job. So, picture me, last night, buying lemon scented SoftScrub at SuperK, and then with the rain spitting down, prewashing, scrubbing, and rewashing my windshield at the gas station. I only wonder if the, no offense, Indian guy in the store saw me and wondered what the heck the dumb white guy was doing. However, as of the drive home last night, no more noise - hallelujah!