Late post tonight, Tony and Shannan scored $500 courtside tickets to the Jazz vs. Raptors game which was being aired on ESPN so it started late. OK, I'm exaggerating on the ticket price, they were only $477 a pop. Whole different animal watching from down there vs. the seats I'm willing to pony up for, and instead of the $3.00 hotdogs we were fed like kings both pregame and at halftime - on the house with those tickets. Annie and I had a blast, thanks Tony!
Couple of random items:
1 - I've been buying back into the market slowly since October, some days feel smart, some days feel like I'm rolling the dice poorly with cash I should be more careful with. But, I'm optimistic that I'm gonna pay for my kids college education with a relatively small cash outlay over the next year. Does this economy suck, yep, and I work in an industry that's ground zero for the mess. But really, I'm serious in that I think I can get the 800 pound monkey of expensive tuition off my back with just a little dry powder being used in the near future. And if it continues to go the other way, well, dry powder probably ain't gonna matter a whole lot then anyway.
2 - Here's the smooth cat story. I got new tires for the cross bike yesterday so took it for a spin at lunch today over at the draper course where the race will be held tomorrow/this morning. It's at the equestrian center so it's common to see a few horsetrailers in the parking lot as the cyclists share the phenomenal corner canyon trail system with the folks riding horses. I grew up on a cattle ranch so happen to have a built in fondness for horse folks, mostly because I is one. So, the events leading up to my smoothness were entirely natural. It starts when I come around the fast corner on the pavement on the easternmost section of the course - the corner straightens out and transitions from the blacktop to a loose gravel/dirt surface. I come around the corner pretty fast, and there's a gal - late 40's/early 50's coming across the parking lot with two horses. It's not what you think - there was plenty of distance. I didn't spook her or her horses and cause a big wreck there, nor did they spook me - it was a very controlled and warm encounter as we made eye contact and acknowledged each other. And being the gracious people that most horse folks are, she followed the eye contact with a wave. This is where it got a little ackward. I'm still going pretty fast, on an uneven gravel surface. So when I sit up, pull a hand off the bars to wave back, and hit a hole with my front tire, I have absolutely no shot at recovering. I can save some pretty out of control situations on a bike, but no way it was happening here. Right smack in the middle of my hi, it's a beautiful December afternoon, parade style wave, I go down - hard! And then skid for a bit. I get up, dust myself off, and this nice woman proceeds to take some responsibility for the incident by apologizing to me for waving. I fake laugh to hide the pain grimaces, and explain that it's my first ride since taking the training wheels off, and that I need more practice before attempting advanced tricks like waving with only one hand on the bars.
She makes sure I'm alright, I make sure she retracts her apology, and we go back to what we were doing before the ridiculous afternoon drama. I ride off absolutley baffled at how she could keep her composure and not fold over laughing after seeing that. So a bit later I've got a couple of more laps in and am coming up to the crest of the little climb up the road just as she's pulling out of the parking lot. She waves again. I look at her, look down, brake until I come to a stop, put a foot down, and then take a hand off and wave back. She finally gives in a cracks up.
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