Let summer begin...

We got to bed way to late last night, it was around 1:24 am to be exact. Alice and I were having too much fun downstairs talking and the kids would come down from time to time and hang out. It was also the last night for a long time that I was going to have to drink my Coors light from a can, the Keg I picked up yesterday would be cold enough to start drinking from. Summer's here.

I got some good news on the work front, a new large customer may be coming on board and I got things back on track with Wayne and Rino and my being in control. I met with Johnny to discuss his role, we had a very good conversation and in the end I think we came up with something that will work for both of us.

Johnny and I have always been like brothers, today I could tell he was uncomfortable. Personally I think because he sits across from Chris and may hear negative things about me, it seeps into his head and then when he deals with me and sees I'm doing him a solid in trying to help him, it screws with him.

I was very upfront and honest to Johnny and told him, and he recognizes, that the big bosses aren't impressed with him. The problem is that Johnny gets very intense when dealing with his income, which I respect, and is very black and white and those guys aren't used to it. Although it may seem like he's a thorn in their side, he's just getting everything on the table and from my experience, once he's got it negotiated he goes back to being a normal, fun loving guy. Personally I'd rather deal with someone who is not afraid to state their position and negotiate strongly regarding their income. It shows me they have some brains and backbone. Johnny has done some politically stupid moves and I told him so and I also told him that I've been trying to help him correct his image with the top brass. Which I have, whenever I can I tell them about the above and beyond things that Johnny does.

After meeting with Johnny, we went to his place to look at his Gottieb pinball machine. He's prepared to sell it to me for $350. It's a great machine, needs a little tune-up but other than that it's good. Even if I flip it, it will sell for at least $1000. I really like the old school machines and it would be a great compliment to the Corvette machine. At Johnny's he asked me if I want a beer, "yes sir". It was what I needed, I was still hurting from last night and even choked on an Advil when I took it without water earlier in the morning.

My plan was to leave work early and get in a bike ride. It was 24 C out and I didn't want to waste a day like that on not training. Before I did I spoke with my brother Bob. I haven't spoken to him in about 10 days and I could tell the difference, he's starting to sound a little more normal and thinking deeper. First thing he asked me was "Is Nolan working at AG?" I said, "yes, I told you that about 2 or three weeks ago". He had no clue and then he mentioned that Al was also working for a Winnipeg broker as well. He also talked more than normal and didn't quickly get off the phone. We talked quite a while and he also mentioned that with no job he's going to be reducing his child support payment for his daughter. At first I objected because I thought it was arbitrary and the he said it was based on a court formula. He's also going to be applying for unemployment payments from the government.

This is all surreal, I would never have thought my brother would ever have been in this circumstance. I'm not giving him advice, however I am telling him about my experiences post Embassy and that when the kids move out we are downsizing to a much smaller house. He's still thinking of buying a new less expensive house and moving. He actually sounded much more mentally healthy, better than I've heard him in years. He then asked me if I'd been on Facebook and seen any of the stuff about Printcrafters and putting him down. I hadn't. He said he heard about it and Patti, one of the girls in the office, stood up for him online. He also mentioned he's learning who his friends are. He's seems much more gentler and humble and bugged me that I hadn't called him. He joked he was calling the police to see if I was okay, I normally talked to him everyday. He forgot I was in St. George.

I was so looking forward to drinking from the Kegerator and was hoping Jamie would stop by, I had a gift for him. I had a Ferrari custom made beer tap made for him, it's beautiful. Every one that's looked at it loves it. Ferrari could sell them for at least $200 and people would buy them. I had a dream last night that I was giving it to him and every time I gave it to him it was the wrong one. He did end up coming over and he seemed really touched about getting it. I couldn't wait to give it to him. The plastic piece of crap on his Kegerator is so trailer park. Here's a guy with cars worth probably $1 million dollars and won't splurge on a nice beer tap and still has 10 year old cycling shoes.

He came over first and then Barb followed. As always we had a great time, Jamie loved the pinball machine and says he's got to get one for the new house. He was also bugging me on all my new purchases for the Pig & Whistle and my breaking the bank and spending the money before you got it. I don't care, all good and I believe "live for today, you never know what's going to happen tomorrow" and the fact that most of my purchases were cheap on EBay except for the $4600 I spent on the slot & Pinball machine, $1300 on the surround sound, $600 on the cigars, $125 for the chair, $92.50 for the Coors beer tap (Which is the most unique one I've ever seen-over 30 bids on EBay for it), my cigar torch for $108, and a whole bunch of other miscellaneous stuff for $200. Then I found out that Reid's graduation suit cost $700. Way to much. Had I been in town when they got it, I would have had him custom fitted and a tailor suit made for that much or less.

I still plan on spending more, I'm now on the hunt for a old authentic parking meter for the Pig & Whistle. Which by the way is getting better and better looking. I love it.

Jamie and Barb were tired, they are still on Spain time, their internal clocks are all messed up and they have the stress of now selling their house. Jamie offered Reid to help them sell their stuff and keep half, I think a yard sale. Reid's in. Alice was telling me a story about Reid selling the punching bag. Before the guys showed up, he was waiting at the kitchen table with his feet up, shoes on and in deep thought. He was thinking of all the possible scenarios and what the guys would ask and how he would respond. The then realized and asked Alice, "what if they want to pay me with a cheque?" Alice explained to him about cheques and only if it was certified or a bank draft. It was a learning experience. He does things naturally that people pay to learn at self-help courses. Just going into his room he has all his goals in the form of pictures on his wall.

Training wise I had the best training bike ride I can remember in a long time. It seems like I got my cycling speed back and I may even be faster than ever before. Something clicked on that second lap at IMSG, the cycling gods looked down on my and boom, I'm back. I did my regular loop, which I think my PB is about 33.8 kph and I did 34.4 kph average. I was going up Appleby hill and got to the top and was still going close to 30 kph, normally I'm 16 kph or less. It was an awesome ride and it was great to ride in the heat sleeveless. I was soooooo much looking to race or catch someone today. Unfortunately I didn't see anyone on the road today that was in my path.

I was thinking back to IMSG and realized that had I had just one of my normal runs, I could have broken the 11 hour mark and finished at 10:53 or less if my swim was better. I knew it wouldn't happen with the heat and had I trained in heat I'm sure I could have done it. It's a great feeling to know I'm still in good shape and the effects of 4-Ironmans last year appears to have worn off and my body is back to normal. I was also thinking how easy mentally IMSG was this year and now that I'm on Ironman finish number 8, it's a different motivation. It's just a training day with pomp and circumstance. The one thing about doing an Ironman with 2000 plus other participants is the time goes by so much quicker. It seems like 112 miles on the bike flies by when you passing people and in the mix.

On the snacking front I still haven't eaten a french fry, I did have more pizza and wings than normal yesterday and I'm not as strong as I was a couple weeks ago. I need to start listening to the tapes again. I'm not too concerned, this morning I weighed in at 182.8 lbs. Probably due to dehydration and muscle weight reduction. I was glad to ride today, it put a halt to the leg muscle atrophy.

It was not to late of a night, both Alice and I were still tired and were in bed by midnight. I was really tired prior to my ride and that really woke me up. Alice on the other hand was toast as the night went on. In keeping with my games room theme, we played a couple games of pool. We used to play all the time, we haven't played in a long time. It was fun, Alice won one and I scratched on my win, so I guess that means Alice won two.

On the family front Reid has another money maker going. He has two cups in the kitchen and he's asking for people to vote for which rapper they like better with money. He doesn't know it yet, I put a salt shaker in one. And on the cigar front, my new low cost Cubans I ordered passed the Mr. Grant approval. I loved them, nice cigar, a definite favourite that I'm going to order again and again.

Training - 52:47 / 30.17 / 34.4 kph avg