Electrolux In Webster City Closing

First off, I have to say BOOOOOO to Electrolux Home Products.

Electrolux Closing (Associated Press)

I mean, we all knew this was coming. It was just a matter of time but, I don't think anyone expected it this soon. I guess we can thank President Bill Clinton for opening the door for this with NAFTA and President Ding Dong for fully blowing the door open with CAFTA and many more damaging programs and decisions and then slamming it on the blue collar worker's hands.

So now, many of my friends and my Dad have fallen victim to the evils of corporate America stepping on everyone to earn a buck. Apparently the same practices of heartlessness is in existence in Sweden (Electrolux Headquarters)

I guess there's only one thing left to do.....

BOYCOTT

Here's to the lid of the cookie jar closing HARD and violently on these A$$ HOLES' fingers very soon. Until then, let's quit giving them our hard earned money to buy their shoddy Mexican made appliances.

Lond Distance Dedication To Mr. Hansen

FUNNY!!!

The Professor Being Cute

Iowa vs. Arkansas St.

It's been quite some time since I've been to a game at Kinnick. So, when we had the opportunity to go to the Iowa vs Arkansas State game, I was in. I think that there is not a better place to see a football game than at Kinnick (I haven't been to Memorial Stadium though).

Iowa started quickly but, then slowed and almost gave the game away. Thankfully Ricky Stanzi (pronounced: ST-AHHH-N-ZEEE by the cheering Asian kid in front of us) rallied the troops and they won.

We had great seats 7 rows off the field.
This was Ariel and Lindsay's first time attending a game in Kinnick. We had fun!

And we got to see the band!!!

Since then, the Hawks are doing great and I'm becoming a somewhat hardcore Iowa fan (Will never give up on my Huskers though). I kind of hope they can win out the season and get a great bowl game. We'll see....

I didn't get to that cross race last weekend. It was cold and we were up late after watching Iowa beat Michigan at Homecoming. I think I may get to a couple of races coming up (bicycle optional). I'll keep you all posted.

....Thanks for checking in. Back to watching Drumline. Yep, I'm a nerdy drummer. :-)

Racing Again?!?!

If the weather is not TOO crappy, it looks as though I'll be hitting up the Stephens Park race on Sunday. I'm trying to get back into this riding/training/racing thing again. And what better way to get your body trained than by going out and making it hurt bad. :-) I'll post a race report next week.

I'm preparing for a busy weekend with the race, the Iowa game on Saturday night, watching the Huskers play on Thursday (Go Big Red!), and a ton of stuff to get done around home. Hopefully all will go well and I will survive. Oh yeah, Go Red Sox!

I have a few pictures I took at the game last weekend, I'll get them up soon. We had a great time. Ariel and Lindsay had never seen a game inside Kinnick Stadium so, it was very cool to get them to a game. It was a lot closer than I thought it would be though. They better play a heck of alot better this weekend if they want to win.

Well, maybe I'll see some of you this weekend. Thanks for checking in. Keep the wheels spinnin'

Revisiting Cyclocross

It has certainly been a while since I have put something new up here. It's been unbelievably longer since I have entered a cross race. I managed to get a couple of cross bikes and rounded up enough parts to get one of them rolling. In case you wondering, I have both of my Ridley's back. So with that, I decided to go race in Des Moines this past weekend.

Lindsay and I haven't raced much this year. I haven't even exercised much at all. Lindsay is in the same boat. With everything going on during the past year, we just haven't had time. We've also had so many changes and difficulties to overcome that it just hasn't been reasonable to do much. But, we're getting past a lot of that and looking to the future.

So, we got started this past weekend by racing in Des Moines at the Capital City Cross races hosted by the MOB Racing Team (the reincarnation/remnants of Team 14). I have ridden my bike maybe 8-10 times all year. Three of those times have been races. Two crits and now, a cross race.

I managed to finish the race (13th/15). I had a good time playing with all of the hecklers/supporters watching the race. I also got to cheer for and catch up with a lot of folks I haven't seen in quite a while. All in all, it was a good time. Many folks saw a different side of me at this race. I gotta say thanks to all of you who helped have fun and not think how bad I am on the bike right now.

This photo says it all about me racing right now. It hurts and it's ugly! I guess the positive is that I'm back out there and looking forward to doing some more races this fall.

Thanks to all who were involved in putting on the races this past weekend. We had fun. Thanks Taylor Webb for the letting my steal your photo's, Carl Buchanan for obvious reasons :-), Dad for coming down, Rob Versteegh for being Rob Versteegh, anyone that gave me a "hand up" during the race, Christi Varnum for getting stuck doing the job that nobody wants, and most importantly, my traveling partner for spending WAY to much time in the car with me over the weekend. :-)

Thanks for checking in. I'll keep you posted of anything new or entertaining that pops up.

Until next time........

The Bridge

Yesterday Lindsay, her Mom (Ellen), and I went to Anamosa to meet up with one of Ellen's childhood friends and her daughter. It was fun. We went for dessert and coffee, checked out some shops, looked at some cool architecture, and shared some great conversation.

On the way out of town we pulled into the Wapsipinican State Park to check out this new walking bridge that was put in over he river. It was pretty cool. You can see from the pic on the info board that the bridge was dropped in place using a Chinuk helicoptor.

The bridge originated in Hale Iowa where it was damaged during the floods of 93. They then decided to restore and salvage what was left. So they salvaged what they could and flew it into Anamosa piece by piece in 2006. It has recently been completed and there are paved trailes leading up to it and new fencing crossing it. A lot of cool landscaping has also been done as well. Pretty cool!

In the pics: The info board showing the Chinuk helicopter lifting the bridge. The bridge; finished product. Lindsay and I staning on the bridge.

Thanks for checking in! :-)