The Last Spinner Saturday of 2005!

This Saturday is not onlt the last day of 2005, it's the last "Spinner Saturday" of 2005 as well! Let's roll out the old year with a fantastic 100% participation in this event and make it a literal GLOBAL RIDE We have participants around the world, in Istanbul, Australia, and the USA! The title of this post is of course a redirect to my new blog over at MSN!

This Is a Redirect to my new blog! Click me!

Here's a surprise, # 1 on Technorati!

Much to my surprise, on Technorati as of today, I am rated by authority on the followng places in the entire technorati standings!
Morbid Obesity, Surgeon Info, Weight Loss surgery:#1
Nutrition: #10!
Weight Loss: 17th
Diet: 14th
Recovery: 11th
This is out of MILLIONS OF BLOGS! Holy Cow!

Motherstormcrowe: TRIBUTE TO THE AMAZING SHRINKING MAN

Motherstormcrowe: TRIBUTE TO THE AMAZING SHRINKING MAN

Morbid Obesity and Bariatric Surgery as an Option

Morbid obesity is classified as a level of obesity that is life threatening. I have a link to St Vincent Hospital in Carmel, Indiana. All you have to do is read my archives here and look at my new blog over on msn to see what they did for me! The link to my new blog is embedded in this headline!The in hospital pictures are March this year, the bicycle pic is 2 weeks old.

I have a new address over at msn space

Click the headline to go to my new blog over at msn space

Morbid Obesity, Cold Weather, and Weight Loss!

Note: I have updated the "Spinner Saturday Chart to reflect Caloi Riders miles
I am trying out this font color as apparently the default font is hard to read against the background. I'll be posting in various text colors here and you guy's tell me what you like best against the current template! I don't want to change the template because if I do, I'll have to reset all my links and lose ALL the old comments. Well, riding in cold weather after losing as much weight as I have, I've found my resistance to cold is signifigantly less! I used to be able to sit outside in Minnesota in January wearing T-Shirt, Shorts and sandals! Now I FREEZE! While I'm riding, I generate enough heat that I'm OK, other than the sappy grin frozen on my face as I can't move my face anymore! When I show up at Panera's with my Cycling clothes(Sweats) and Windvest and Helmet, they basically think I'm nuts! Lets see, checklist here:
Windvest: Trucking Co. Windvest, polarguard fill
Sports Band for the ears:Merino wool, Thinsulate(tm) and fleece, 3 layers
Polar Gloves: 1500 gram Thinsulate(tm)
Fleece sweat pants(2 pr), from Walmart
Thermal T/ Regular Long T
Fleece hooded Sweatshirt
Thermal socks
Lycra compression stockings for circulatory problems
Cross Training shoes from Walmart again
Helmet.
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Winter Hydration and Health:
Hydration pack rides INSIDE my wind vest, at 16F, it freezes otherwise! I also carry energy food like Granola or Clif Bars(tm) because food=warmth! Cold air saps your energy as well as dehydrates you faster, believe it or not. Another thing you need to watch for is frostbite. You also need to consider a breath warmer mask if you are pushing hard enough to wind up mouth breathing. Air at extremely low temperatures can damage your lungs!
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Essentially, I want to convey that winter riding is not only possible, but fun! You just need to take certain environmental factors into consideration. The caloric burn is the same or higher, and it is healthy! Go for it, and have fun!

ps- I should mention, I just started a frappr thingamy! The link is this headline!

Cycling to fight Morbid Obesity and Spinner Saturday Graph Results

Cycling is a low impact exercise that burns MASSIVE amounts of Calories. The only better exercise for aerobic and cardiac health is swimming and they are both FUN! There are difficulties with cycling when you are morbidly obese, as I was. They are surmountable obstacles, though. See the link sidebar and there is a calculator over there, or just click this headline for the WVDA CALORIC BURN CALCULATOR engine. Physical activity is important for both physical and mental health and fitness. There is no better antidepressent than exercise, at least that's what I've found! Start in moderation and if you have health issues I can't stress enough to CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN before starting an exercise regimen!
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As to the graphing, I understand Caloi's lack of data due to terrible weather and Big Mike is wrapping up the semester! I only have 7 miles in this week and Tayfur is at the top this week with 16 miles........Good on ya Tayfur!
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Spinner Saturday is technically a global event and if you want to participate, feel free to post your miles in my comments and I'll add you to the party! The current participants are in Australia, Turkey, and two in the USA: Indiana and Idaho! Join in and spin!

This site doesn't give medical advice and should not be construed as other than common sense advice in general terms

Dealing with the After Effects of Morbid Obesity

Something you need to know! As we know, I had the Roux-N-Y procedure gastric bypass performed in March this year. There are some surprising side effects of this process. The best one is that as your metabolism ramps up from losing weight, you just plain feel better and FAR more energetic. If you've been following my blog, you know that as late as April this year, I was in a wheelchair as I couldn't stand or walk any length of time due to my weight. Just a little reminder here as to where I was and where I am now in the pictures I am posting here. They are both me! My before and current pictures as a comparison.







Before is above, This was in March this year





After is below, this was Thanksgiving this year

If you are considering Bariatric Surgery, you should be aware that there are risks associated with it. Weigh these risks carefully and decide if you want to continue the path you're on, or get your life back and do more than just exist! Research your surgeon and don't be afraid to ask what their mortality rate is, this is one of the risks! It's about 1 in 200, incidentally. There are other aspects as well, such as being on vitamins and supplementsd the rest of your life. To me, it's a small price to pay though, because I've gone from a wheelchair to a mountainbike and college to study nursing. I am thankful for this each and every day. If you are reading this and you either need to consider this OR know someone who does, I encourage you to get them to read my blog from front to back and see the story. If you are thinking about the surgery, I can only encourage you! Be responsible to get your life back.

DAMN Sploggers!

I take my word verification down for a few hours and I get nailed by SPLOGGERS! It's back up, so if you want to SPAM my blog, you better do it yourself, SPLOGGERS! Your machine readers won't work again! Next time Bloggers verifacation server locks up, I'll just be patient and wait for bloggers tech staff to clear the logjam. A message to you sploggers........I don't want plastic surgery, I don't want penile enlargement, I don't want or need Viagra(tm).......I'm quite satisfied with what God gave me and I don't advertise for FREE! If you want to buy ad space on my blog, approach me and I'll consider it IF the product is appropriate, by MY standards! I choose the content of this blog and no one else! This blog space is my property and I am willing to share it with those that respect the space and intent. I don't like or hold with thieves or tresspassers, and if you spam MY property, you are nothing more than a graffitti spraying vandal. I have the delete button here and I will use it for spammers as well as flagging their blog as objectionable content to the attention of Blogger management. consider this fair warning to you sploggers!

As a postscript: If you want to copy the ERROR MESSAGE image and place it on YOUR blog, feel free to do so. You are welcome to use it!

It's Spinner Saturday Again!

Yup, it's "Spinner Saturday" yet again! Due to Finals and bad weather the miles are down signifigantly! I got one ride in this morning, 7 miles, over to West Lafayette for breakfast at the Triple XXX Restaraunt! I earned these hash and eggs! 24F when I took off! That's -4.4 C for those of you outside the USA! Wind chill is about 0F, or -18C! My face was frozen in a HUGE GRIN! We have a storm rolling in this afternoon, so more riding tomorrow doesn't look promising! I must say though, the Geax Evolution tires that Hodson's bay got me to put on my bike are working very well on slick roads! They're like snowtires for the bike! Now for an announcement, My Mom is now an active blogger! The headline to this post is a link to her blog, "Motherstormcrowe"! Drop by and welcome my Mother to the Blogiverse!

Support Your Local Bike Shop!

Over on the left sidebar you'll see a link to my Local Bike Shop. No not mine as in I own it, my as in I frequent their services. Today, I had to put a new bottom bracket in my bike, the crank got loose and rattly. Hodson's Bay is my LBS. I have a ride planned for tomorrow and I can't ride with a crank bearing shredding. I can tell ya! My bike rides like it's brand new after the service they did! Above and beyond is what I say, above and beyond! The got me in and out in about 45 minutes.......same day service! They wanted me to be able to do my ride. Dan down at Hodson's Bay has been a huge supporter of my quest to get my life back along with all the other guys there! They made sure everything was right, even checked my tire pressure! If you are in my area, Tippecanoe County and surrounding area here in Indiana, you could do far worse than to take your bike there! When ya go in, tell'em "The Amazing Shrinking Man" sent ya. It won't get me anything, but what the hey! It at least let's Dan know I appreciate the great help he and the guys have given me!
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Three reasons to support your LBS:
1) The service.......sure you can get a cheap bike at Walmart! You can even get a decent inexpensive bike at Walmart! Matter of fact, I ride a cheap bike! It's a Royce Union. At Walmart, you get a bike that probably won't shift right, you get bottom end components, and will require a tune up (at your LBS) to ride right!
2) Service! You often get free tuneups the first year after buying at your LBS
3) You are supporting a business that has local roots and NOT exporting your hard earned dollars to Bentonville, Arkansas!
OK, I lied, there's a fourth reason!
4) After it's all said and done, you'll wind up spending as much money buying a department store bike as an entry level bike at your LBS after you get done tweaking and tuning it and upgrading it because you're not happy with the performance of your bike as you would have in the first place going to your LBS!
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The reason I ride the Royce Union is because My Grandfather gave it to me. I enjoy it because of that reason! I've sunk $$ into it upgrading the crank and other components and tweaking and tuning it til it rides pretty nice. It was a used bike to start with, but it'll stay around as long as the frame holds up. It'll stay around as long as I can keep it rideable, and I don't care how much I spend on it. I'll get other bikes later, my dream MTB is a Banshee Chaparall for example. My dream touring road bike is a Specialized or a Cannondale. I'll eventually be able to afford one but not now, as I'm a starving college student! But as I said, there'll always be a place under my butt for the Ol' Royce Union!

I just found an Incredible Blog!

Stop by and visit George Geid's blog! I'm embedding the link in this headline, because George is on an AMAZING ride! He's riding a bike from the tip of South America to Prudhoe Bay in Alaska! Talk about your epic rides! That's literally almost half a circumnavigation of the globe! Helmet's off to George!

#%$@ SNOW!

I was all mouth watering to ride this morning and it SNOWED! The roads were slick and I was gonna do it anyway, but my wife locked the bike to the closet door and hid the key while I was grabbing a cup of coffee this morning........something about not enough life insurance on me yet for me to kill myself!::GRIN:: Maybe before dark, roads are only wet now, if I can just find the KEY! In the meantime, the Governor of California wants to issue a statement on my blog, important social tool that it is! Update on my weight loss: I am now down by 305 pounds! How's that for cool!

I foung BIG Cycling Togs!

I embedded a link into the title of this post, so just click the headline here to go to the site and shop for your Big and Tall cyclist needs. Just a hint for XMas to my family!::GRIN The Long tights are up to XL, and STRETCHY, the cycling shorts are up to 3X(My size!), and the Jersey's are up to 4X(I wear 2-3X Depending on how it's cut!

Spinner Saturday Graph results! Thanks dt!

I didn't even think of a screenshot to transfer the image, but here it is! Spinner Saturday graph results. dt, if you'd like to join, feel free to shoot me your ride stats and I'll add you to the program. There is no charge and until it gets to the maximum capacity for me to manage, I'll keep adding riders. The Graph will start over from month to month and I'll be adding a hiking chart as well. On a monthly basis I'll also be posting a chart showing cumulative annual miles, sound good? Let me know what y'all think!
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Tayfur: You're kicking butt, keep it up!
Caloi, Big Mike, I'll update you guy's as soon as I get the data, I know you've both been swamped! I need a couple of weeks worth of miles each!

I can't post the graph this week on Spinner Saturday results

Sorry Guy's, I can't post the graph this week. To extract the graph from excel, I need to print it, and scan it to convert from excel to .jpg. My printer is currently down and the only other printer I have access to is at school, a low res text only B&W printer that needs cleaned so badly the paper turns gray as it runs through the printer, I'll have a double graph posted next week when I have my printer back on line for this week and next. By the way, keep track of recreational walking miles as well as I'm adding a category for hiking miles. That will be a seperate graph, so if I get the data, there may be three graphs next week. The walking/hiking graph, by the way, is at the suggestion of My friend Tayfur Yagci! His blog is over on my blogroll on the left, feel free to stop by and say "Hello arkadasim"!
I'd like to thank Arnold for stopping by with his comment as well(see above picture::GRIN::)

Spinner Saturday(Which Falls on Sunday this Week)

Good morning and welcome to the Holiday Edition of Spinner Saturday! My riding miles for the week are a whopping 6! Tayfur got about 20. I still hope to hear from the others. Turkey day is now over and all will be back on schedule next week!
Riding: 6 miles
Walking: 12 miles
Chopping Firewood: Lots of Chopping
Terrain: Varied including Arctic temperatures
Wind: Frigid and strong............NASTY

By the way, here's a Church sign I'd love to see!
Title is an embedded link to "The Crafty Mrs Stormcrowe's" Blog, stop by and say Hi!

Post Thanksgiving Update!

Here we go! My Thanksgiving exercise! I can now do something I haven't been able to do for years, and that is splitting a log in a single swipe with a wood maul! For those of you that don't know what a maul is, it's a cross between an ax and a sledge hammer.

It weighs about 8 pounds and is a wonderfull log splitter. I'm happy to say, I left Uncle John well supplied with split firewood. What'cha think, do I look outdoorsy? I didn't take the bike because we were supposed to get a foot of snow and high winds, but it never materialized. Consequently, I only got 6 miles riding in this week. I did get several miles walking over the holiday. I behaved well at dinner, and only snitched a tiny piece of my cousin Cristies home-made pumpkin bread! It tasted heavenly and Cristie, email me the recipe so my wife can do a sugar free version of it! She'd love it! My stomach did well with the rich food and I had no complications and only ate a little bit, but it satisfied me thoroughly! TTFN, see y'all later!
ps: Note in one of the pics, the split half of the log still in the air tumbling off the chopping block!

Happy Thanksgiving

Be Safe in your travels and enjoy the Turkey! Enjoy your time with family and give thanks for the blessings that are bestowed on you.

Spinner Saturday Charting Results

As promised, here are the results of the Spinner Saturday mileages turned in to me. If you want to have results posted I need them by Monday morning at least, consider Monday 0800 "bedtime" for the week for charting the data. That would be 0900 ET, 0700 MT, 0600 PT. I'll be happy to track, collate and chart your data and if you aren't on the chart, all you need to do is post into my comments on Spinner Saturday, or any other comment section and let me know your miles for the week, longest and shortest ride, terrain and wind conditions, I'll add you to the chart! This might be my last post for the Thanksgiving holiday, as I'll be out of town, but I will post my rides after. If Spinner Saturday becomes Spinner Sunday next weekend, please understand! Tayfur, recruit some Turkish riders for "Spinner Saturday", I'll track their stats as well! By the way, my link of the day is to Tayfur's blog! The link is embedded in this headline! Tayfur is from Istanbul, Turkey and a regular commenter on the Amazing Shrinking Man and a fellow cyclist! Drop by and say hello! Don't mind my geeky comment there::GRIN::

It's "Spinner Saturday" Again!

First off, a Crass Commercial plug for my LBS! Hodson's Bay, in West Lafayette is a wonderfull bike shop. They have been unstinting in their advice and support of my riding! Thanks, Dan and all the others down at Hodson's Bay! Click the headline of this post and you'll be redirected to their site! Before you do, though, read me and comment if ya want!
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OK, on to the business at hand! It of course is "Spinner Saturday" and here are the specs!
Longest Ride: 14 miles
Shortest : 7 miles
Total :21
There were only two rides this week unfortunately, due to bad weather and school sucking up my time. Oh well, it's for a good cause, so I must sacrifice my ride time for now!
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Weight Loss: -292! My weight is now a 289 pounds, woohoo! Life is sweet!

No Cycling ALL week!

This sux! I haven't had time to ride this week at all! Between class demands and a term paper I've been working on, I've been a busy feller! My miles for the week are 6! I did; however, get the first draft of my paper and bibliography done! I don't know which I like lessw, APA or MLA styled papers! I'm currently working with APA citings and style for this paper. My subject is: Speculative Fiction as a Reflection of Society. I sincerely hope I can get a good grade on this paper as I have a ton of work in it! 9 pgs of text and a 4 page bibliography with research ranging from Buck Rogers(1929) to The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire(1792, Gibbons) also including a range of articles, both scholarly and media for research. I have about 45 hrs tied up in this paper. I think George says it best here in his first guest photo-op on my blog!

Grouse, Grouse, Grumble, Brumble, $%#@ WEATHER!

The weather here in Indiana is leaving a lot to be desired! Last night it was Tornados with one touching down about 35 miles from where I live here in Boilermaker City! F-1 but this is ridiculous! As I was saying, tornados and severe thunderstorms last night and snow today. 31 degrees right now and so windy it kept blowing my hat off! If ya ever want to see something funny, watch a fat man chasing his fedora across a parking lot! It's supposed to go down to 17 degrees tonight and I was planning a ride for tomorrow but it may well be too slick! Won't be too cold as I can dress warm, but if it's icy, I'll have to pedal a stationary bike! Don't get me wrong, but while it's good exercise, IT"S BORING! Who knows though, with this Indiana weather, next thing I know, they'll have a hurricane followed by a blizzard! Or maybe both together, like in the movie"The Day After Tomorrow"! By the way, my featured link is to "The Last Girl on Earth", the blog of Deni Bonet. This gal is a fiddler of some great skill and quite a rocker as well! Go check out her site and say "Stormcrowe sent ya!". The link is of course embedded in the headline of this post, as per usual!

I have a cyclists poll here!

Click the headline of this post and you'll be redirected to my poll! it's at http://snappoll.com/poll/47809.php by the way so you know where you're being sent! The question of the poll is : Is a bad day cycling better than.................? Have fun with this and enjoy yourselves! I gotta get busy this morning. I have a 10 page research paper to write first draft on and unfortunately, it's a formal paper! AAAAARGH, no humor allowed! This little post hopefully will clear my head and permit me to concentrate on my paper!

We Have a GUEST Blogger today, Mrs. T_Stormcrowe

Without further ado, I'm going to turn over the keyboard to my Ball and.......OOPS, Sweet Loving Wife!
I've embedded a link to my wifes new blog in the headline of this post!

Hello out there in Blogger Land. As you know by my very sweet husband (I am letting him think that) Storm Crowe asked me to come and talk with all of ya. As you can see I have spent a lot of time down south. Now I bet there is someone out there that has been or will be at sometime in their life a caretaker. That word in all is a mouthful. It curtail's everything in a household to being there for all of the ups and downs, that comes with being a caretaker. But my last day for that part of my life is now done with as of this past March. I can not believe the go get attitude that Stormcrowe now has. I love every minute of it. It reminds me of when we first got married back in the Stone Age. I do not care how much I flap like a silly duck in a tornado behind him. I let him go and do what he thinks is best for himself. He does keep himself in check and at times when he thinks he has gone too far and all he will do is back down for the time being and work up to back where he wishes it to be. No, getting back the amount of life he has now has not been an easy road. I commend him on every step he takes. I smile to myself that here he goes again. That is fine with me. I have good company to flap in the breeze with, the American Flag. I have one last thing to say. Please remember to keep time for yourself. I have had had health issues myself, in the past. I had a tumor that resulted in my losing an inner ear, as well as a signifigant portion of my temporal bone, causing me balance problems, hence the three wheeler when I ride! No body wants to see anyone in the same spot that our love ones have been in. Peace and love to all. The Mrs.

The results so far on "Spinner Saturday!

I am running a performance chart on the posting Participants of "Spinner Saturday! Here it is! So far, Tay and BIG Mike only have one data point, so their stats will rapidly change next week! As promised to Tim, I've embedded a link in this title and welcome to the wacky, wide world of BLOGGING, Tim! As people chime in and post stats, I also expect to add columns and rows to this chart!

This is for BIG_Mike_In_OZ

This is for my friend BIG_Mike down under in Australia! A Ocularis Obscurus photo! Mrs Stormcroweprime as well here! Click the TITLE of this post to link to his Blog!

Spinner Saturday!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to the second "Spinner Saturday"! My stats for the week are as follows:
-Miles: 86
-Terrain: Varied, flat and hills
-Caloric Burn: 9683
-Short ride: 7 Miles
-Longest ride: 40 miles
-Wind: Perpetual headwind!::GRIN::

I'd also like to send you to visit a friend of mine in Istanbul, Turkey! Tayfuryagi! If you click the title of this post above you will follow an embedded link to his blog! Check him out, he's a pretty cool cat! My miles are down this week as I'm kinda loaded down with classwork this week. I could only get 4 rides in. 3 nice weather(other than the $%#@ HEADWIND!).

I found a calculator engine for cycling training

The link is embedded in the title of this post. It's a German site, and I linked the english(American) version. This looks to be usefull for training and caloric burn rates ref/ cycling! Use it in good health! It's from Kreuzotter.de by the way and those of you that don't go crosseyed from math, it even provides the calculus formulae used to compute the results. As far as I can tell, the site has valid formulae and data conversion.

ps- Remember, tomorrow is "Spinner Saturday" so post your week tomorrow!

Very chilly ride this morning!

Wow, I took my ride this morning, took off at about 7:00! It was 30 Deg! Wind chill was 22, and I wore my windvest and polar gloves and long sweats! I made the 7 miles from my house to Panera's for coffee and cracked and popped inside to get some coffee with a rhime of frost on me and frozen face and ears! The worst part was the icicle hanging from my moustache that I didn't know about because my face was numb! I stumbled up to the counter and ordered Dark Roast, Stat, I.V. in my best future medical personell command voice. After the ride it had difficulty; however, getting through my lips which had frozen together in my icicle on my moustache! This ride was FUN and it got me free coffee! The counterperson at Panera's said if I could ride to there for coffee in weather this cold, Panera's could just buy my coffee and my $$ was no good! Wonder what I'll get in January?::GRIN:: OK, on to you Peg, Thanks much for the Maynard gear for my nephew! Peg, by the way, is P. S. Murphy, author of a childrens book called "Maynard the Mannerly Monkey". This is a winner for you folk with young children, by the way! If you click the title you can link to her website www.psmurphy.com. She also along with the Maynard I purchased, signed the copy for my nephew, sent along four more for the library here in Lafayette,m and the library where my nephew lives in Cebu, PHILIPPINES. as well as a t-shirt and hat from maynard's Merchandise collection! Kid brother, they'll be in the mail by Dec 3! I look cold here, don't I? My wife shot my pic afterI walked in after my ride! Icicle melted though after my coffee stop!

Dream Tree

Click the title and link back to the evil woman that tagged me!;-O
He thought it would be an ordinary journey. Standing behind the pillar he watched the train snort arrogantly into the station. With each snort, he was reminded of his Grandfathers words "You will fail in the city and return penniless"; with every heavenward whistle, "Don't worry. Come here and I will get you a job at the construction site." Now he had a 34 hour journey to prove one of them wrong and he expected the excitement at the end of his journey. He looked at his ticket again: compartment S9, berth 23.

Pushing his luggage under the seat, he sat close to the window. "Papa, when will you be back?" his 4 year old daughter Munni asked innocently. He stared into those soft brown eyes of the motherless kid. "Munni, Papa will get you a nice gudiya from the city..sday tata" his sister spoke to the kid, to avoid an emotional outburst. In a minute, the train pulled forward, and Munni's little fingers parted from his. "I need to go..", He thought, "I have to, for Munni's sake.."

The humid summer breeze and the rattling train coaxed him into an uncomfortable state of drowsy consciousness. He dreamt that Munni ran away, the closer he ran to her, the farther she was, like a mirage. He woke up with a start and squinted at his watch. "What is the time please?" A smallish woman, a meek voice as is she was scared that hedr existence would annoy someone. Her only noticeable feature was her rather large, expressive eyes. "4:30" Something made him look at the woman again. He had stopped noticing women long back. Ever since Meenakshi passed away...

Four long years. His daughter's birth. His wife's death. Joy and sorrow in an instant. A heady cocktail. He had hardly recovered from it. He barely had a chance to. You can't be a poor famer in Andhra Pradesh and have time for emotional upheavals. Life betrayed him once with the death of his wife. Life betrayed him again, three years in a row, with the failure of his crops. Every hear the debt increased and it felt like a noose tighten around him. Tightened till he could not breathe. He shivered with the memory of the night, where he took a bottle of poison in his hand...

He threw the bottle away when he heard the small voice behind him, "Papa, what beyond the big well? Sanju says that's where the world ends. "His then-preoccupied answer had satisfied Munnis innocent curiosity, "No, beta... That's the railroad to the city...There's a lot of world beyond the big well. "He had repeated the answer to himself, "No, it's not the end of the world." Maybe some of that same innocence in this woman's voice or eyes made him rephrase the answer to her question. "What is the time, please?" In a crystal-clear flash of certainty he realized... "It was time."

It was time to put the scattered pieces of his life together. Just like the marbles he picked up as a boy. That he won and collected one by one from the ground,his pockets laden and bulging with his precious treasure. He had to play the game of the region above his sunburned face. He had a happy face and no luggage. As he walked the corridor his eyes scanned the berths. He reached their compartment and stopped in front of the woman.

Slowly she turned, could this be possible? Her eyes spoke of the panic she felt race through her body! He had found her, but how? She had taken every precaution to ensure her safety--this time! Trembling, yet she could not look way, she froze as if time itself had been suspended. Flashes of pain seared through her mind with the memory of those days.

He stood poised smiling down at her. So calm his demeanor, his shell. But the core was churning uncontrollably. He wanted to reach out, tear the flesh from the face that he once loved.

However, he just couldn't let go and give in to the urge because of a couple of reasons. No matter how much she had hurt and betrayed him, the simple fact was that once she had meant the world to him. This was the way it always was though whenever he saw her. He wished he had the decisiveness of his Grandfather, who had served as a Sepoy for the British Raj, but he was a simple man of no great courage...a simple farmer.

I was tagged by Peg over at Peg's Pen for this story round. My contribution was the red text. The rules are:
1( A blogger can add 90-100 words, no more no less
2)All previous snippets of 90-100 words need to be copied before the new set of 90-100 words are added
3)Each entire snippet should be linked to the respective author and not just the first sentence or so
4) Characters, scenes, etc can be introduced by an author.
5)Bizzare twists, Sci-Fi, Fantasy sequences are best avoided.
6)A tag must be accepted in 7 days or the branch is a dead branch
8) After appending 90-100 words onto the tree, it can be passed on to AT MOST three other bloggers.
9)The story tree is best left to grow than concluded.
10)Please attach the image of the story tree below with each accepted tag.

I pass the Tag to the following three bloggers:
Blogger Unknown
Caloi Rider over at msn space
Billieryder over at msn space

See ya later: T_Stormcrowe, or as I'm known over in msnspace Stormcroweprime

Spinner Saturday!!!!!

Welcome to the First Spinner Saturday on the Amazing Shrinking Man. Caloi Rider so far is also involved in this and I hope to get other blogging cyclists in this as well! My pics below are from my ride this morning, sorry about the gray skies but the truly look like November pictures with the trees standing out against the steel gray sky! OK, here are my stats for the week!
Mileage overall, 152 miles, with a 16,640 calorie burn for that. My average pace was 12-16 mph on a mountain bike converted to a commuter, basically! Shortest ride was today at 9 miles and the longest this week was 30 miles. Terrain, moderately hilly. Ride surface: Pavement primarily as there isn't much in the way of mountain bike accessible trails right around Lafayette. The pictures are of the overlook from Soldiers home road over the Wabash Valley and from the trail called the NW Greenbelt in West Lafayette, IN. Click the title of this post and follow an embedded link to Caloi's blog! It's called the Uphill Battle!

Something to Laugh At!

Been there, done that!

A BIG thank you to gwadzilla over @ http://gwadzilla.blogspot.com for the theft of the cartoon from his blog!

Thirty mile day today!

I rode a loop from where I live, out to Battleground, IN and back in. I know one thing, I AM POOPED, the last 11 miles was against a 25-30 mph headwind. The bike I'm currently riding for training up has FLAT handlebars and a lot more rolling resistance than a roadie! Among other things, I'm running a pair of extremely HEAVY Geax Evolutions; a commuter tire, for my rubber/road interface! 880 grams apiece but bulletproof! 1000 miles on the tires and the mold hairs aren't even worn off of them! No cheating the wind for me! I cut across a road called Prophets Rock road, and while the hills aren't too tall, they're sure steep! Add in the headwind and I had to pedal downhill! No coasting possible and I got knocked around pretty good by the wind as well! I almost got blown off a bridge into the Wabash River by a particularily nasty cross gust! Still, all in all I had a fantastic ride! It would have been a 37 mile loop, but after 11 miles of headwinds, I couldn't feel my legs anymore and I was pretty bonked, so I wimped out and called my wife to come pick me and the bike up instead of riding the last 7 miles.
top: Murdock Park in Lafayette, my first break point, middle: Tippecanoe Battlefield Memorial through the trees, Bottom, me at Panera's recovering with some Dark Roast after the wife met me! Click the title of this post and link to another cyclists VERY COOL blog!

We need a blog day dedicated to our rides! I'd suggest "Spinner Saturday"!

It could be something like Half Naked Thursday! Saturday, the cyclists who post their weekly rides, crashes, disasters, etc., could use this day to post specifically their weekly ride stats and pictures! On spinner Saturday, we can brag to each other, post pics of fat bicyclists in Spandex(tm), in other words, what we normally do but with a special day for it!


Further on zen and the art of cycling: When I reach the zen state, I am aware of what goes on, as far as I know, I'm just in the zone and detached from my body. There is NO pain, no stress, nothing but the interaction of me and the road, or trail! I react to other traffic, but I'm so into the ride that nothing else matters. In Japan, they call it a munen, or mushin state, the terms are synonymous. It's essentially where the mind stops moving from one place to another. In effect, you have achieved a sense of stillness. When you achieve this, you then experience a state of mushin no shin (mind of no mind) and this doesn't mean you are nuts!::GRIN:: It means you are detached and in a meditative state, similar to what the Japanese swordsmen experience in the practice of their art, an utter sense of peace and internal quiet, no noise, no distractions, just a perfect ride. This is as close as I can come to putting this concept into words. See everyone later!

I have a new google group to serve as a forum!

This is intended to be a support forum and is open to the public. I am working on getting it set up completely, but it's up and running and has two threads started already! Feel free to join! As you can see, the post title is a link! I just found this capability on my template, and the link is to the homepage of my group!
Now, on to other business, If you want to post comments here on my blog, you have to register with blogger as I don't allow anonymous posts anymore due to spamming problems in the comment section. ]

To Fatty:
I just want to post a little bit about zen and cycling! You know you're in the zone when you get so far inside the ride you blank out and find yourself miles down the road! You are alert, and responsive, but in the zone is all that is! This is to be desired when you are on a long ride and I find as I get stronger in my riding, I find this state easier to achieve.

To Caloi:
You are welcome here anytime! Feel free to comment or email me! My blog is RSS syndicated through AtomXML
See Y'all later! Happy Halloween!