Can I get a, “FUCK YEAH!” ???

Were we playing a hand right now, I’d open raise big, just for the hell of it.

Fuck.  Yeah.

I’ve been down in Statesboro for just over a month now, and I’m in my fifth week of work at Georgia Southern University.

Work has been very busy, but is going well. Statesboro itself, however, is definitely not Pittsburgh, and it shows in what I’ve been doing (or not doing) in the off hours. The lack of social opportunities so far hasn’t been an completely bad thing, though. It’s lead me to get back on the bicycle.

As you may be aware, for the last 4 years I’ve had a Gary Fisher Utopia hybrid bike. It had served me well, over all. I was able to get out on it on Sunday, 4/6 for a 16 mile ride to get back in the swing of things. That Monday I made it out for 18 miles, 24 miles on Wednesday, and 16 on Thursday. After this, that means I’ve ridden that bike a total of 2595 miles since I bought it in June of ‘04, and also have spent countless hours using it on a trainer during the winter months. It’s done well, but considering that I long ago transitioned to riding almost exclusively on the road, and around here I don’t really have much of an option but to ride on the road, I figured it was time for a change.

So, this past Saturday morning, I made a trip to the local bike shop here, and made a purchase.

Behold my new ride:

It’s a Trek 1.2, which is their entry-level road bike. I didn’t want to spend massive amounts of cash, and I figured it was good enough for my purposes.

The day I got it, I got out on the road and went for a 25 mile ride. The original plan was to hit 40, but I got caught in a thunderstorm, and riding in heavy rain isn’t really all that fun. It felt good the first time out. Very fast compared to what I am used to riding. Yesterday, I was able to get out for another 28 mile ride. Still felt very good, and I’m feeling good about the purchase.

Today, however, I did something a little bit different. On my trips to the bike shop, the owner mentioned that there was a local ride that left his shop every Wednesday at 6:00 PM. He made it sound like not that crazy of a thing. So today after work, I hopped on the bike and headed down to the shop.

When I arrived, there were about 5 or 6 other guys there. They all had some pretty nice bikes, and a few even had fully matching bike shorts/shirt combos. Two of the guys started talking about their last race, and how they were asked to step up to the next class or something like that. It was about then that I realized I might be screwed.

Everyone was friendly and introduced themselves. They seemed like a good group. As we get underway, I realize that they were forming up a paceline. I’ve never ridden in a line before, but I know the basic idea. Stay on the wheel of the dude in front of you. The problem was that, at least at first, there was a lot of speeding up and slowing down. This lead to me hitting the brakes a lot. It only took a few minutes before a dude rode up beside me and asked “You haven’t ridden in a paceline before, have you?”

The guy was nice about it and gave me tips for what to do. Not using the brakes, never stop pedaling, etc. I was still having problems staying close enough to the wheel of the bike in front of me though, as it’s sort of a nerve-wracking thing at first. Almost everyone in the group, though, was really friendly and accepting of my incompetence.

After my first time at the front of the line, I dropped back, and the next leader kicked up the pace. Rather than falling in at the end, I just got left behind. One dude dropped back and rode next to me, and despite my insistence that they should continue the ride at their pace, he stuck with me and we reformed at the next turn. After that a guy stuck with me, and even occasionally helped me with a push.

When it was all said and done, I had ridden about 31.5 miles, at an average speed of about 23 mph. It seriously kicked my ass. They do a Saturday and Sunday ride, which are a bit more laid back. I think I might stick with those for a few weeks, before trying to hang with them on the fast ride again.

All in all, though, it was good to ride with some other people, as I haven’t really met anyone outside of work yet.

So, all of this means that I’m at total of 158.5 miles for the year. Probably not bad for less than 2 full weeks of just getting back on the bike.

So, uh, yeah… bike bike bike.

Let me just say this.. fuck Cleveland man.  They can have their Browns, and they can have their Clinton.

Ok, now that that is out of the way…

Since I’ve likely been disenfranchised in this primary process (I won’t be a legal resident of PA when they vote, and GA has already voted), last week I did the “vote with my dollars” thing and donated to the Obama campaign.

I feel compelled to donate again, after tonight, but I’m not exactly a rich man.  I have hatched a plan, however.  I wanted to get another trip to <a href=”http://poker.wikia.com/wiki/Mountaineer”>Mountaineer</a> for some live action before I leave Pittsburgh.  I’m now leaning towards a trip out on Sunday afternoon-evening, and making this a Trip with a Cause.

The idea is that I will play some great poker, and donate my winnings (if they should materialize) to the Obama campaign.  I will make this public knowledge at the table.  I’ll make a shirt, or card protector or something, and talk about how my winnings to go to the campaign.

The question is, do you think this will affect people’s play against me?  Would an Obama sympathizer be more likely to fold to me if they have a marginal decision?  Will Clinton supporters or republicans play tougher against me?  Or, maybe, they’ll make less rational decisions against me, since the mere idea of what I’m doing pisses them off?  Maybe it won’t affect anyone’s play at all.  Will it affect my play at all?

I think it would be an interesting experiment.  My time left here is limited, though, and I might not be able to swing another trip out there.  If it does happen, however, you can be sure I’ll write about it here.

Man, I’m moving to Georgia in just one week.  That’s pretty fucking weird.

At any rate, there is now.  I have accepted a job at a large public university in Georgia, and will be moving there on March 12.  I’ll be living about 45 minutes northwest of Savannah.  While I’ve already announced this in other not-fully-public forums, I have yet to put something out on the inter-web in a fully open manner.

Basically, the job is the next step up from the one that I currently do.  I’ll be supervising a few people who work as Resident Directors, and will be doing some other stuff, too.  The area is nice, and the school has a really good ‘vibe’ to it, but it is a little bit in the middle of nowhere.  This isn’t terrible, but it will be an adjustment from living in Oakland.

This is something that is both exciting and neat, but also sad and a bit scary, too.  I really like living in Pittsburgh, and I suspect that it will always be a target area for me in future job hunts.  Right now, however, there just doesn’t appear to be any ‘next step’ positions for me here.

Tomorrow I’m heading up to CT for an extended weekend. The original plan was to ride my pretty pretty blue friend on up to the homeland, but I decided against it.  The forecast is calling for rain all week long.  Now, I wouldn’t have minded rain on either the ride up or back, as that’s what rain gear is for, but it’s also just going to be rainy for the whole trip.  Given I don’t have any indoor parking for the bike in CT, and it wouldn’t really be great riding weather on any of my days up there, making this a bike trip just really doesn’t make sense.  I’m disappointed.

I should get a chance to see some folks though, and I’m scheduled for a trip to Foxwoods on Friday.  Hopefully I can reverse my horrible trend from Vegas at the tables when I’m back in my own neck of the woods.

Also, I finally saw the Transformers movie, and it was Good.  Like, as in God looking upon his creation and it was Good kind of Good.

Ok, I’m done now.