it is official, i am still alive..

alright, there were thoughts of riding off into the sunset.. a weak moment perhaps?? certainly.. you can't get rid of the surFnick that easy. on a serious note.. i want to thank all the people who sent me emails. one in particular really touched me.. thanks jay (mad duck). i'll see out at white rock next year : ) enough of the serious crap.. let's catch up. the past couple of weeks have been.. trying. the bad.. first my hot water heater took a crap.. the next day my fridge went out. no connection between the two.. just bad luck. i run up to home depot, find the cheapest hot water heater in the joint, wrestle it home, and install with my father-n-laws help. operation water heater completed... i thought. abut 6 hr's later, i'm asleep in bed and wife wakes me up... "did you leave the coffee pot on?" no.. why? i hear a hissing sound. i leap to my feet, run to the kitchen, open the closet, and have to battle the beast. i looked like a wet willy, remember those?? it's kind of like a my potato head with a bunch of small hoses coming out that spray everywhere. by the time the potato is under control, the kitchen is FLOODED. too tired to mess with it, i grab some towels and lay them down... i'll deal with it in the morning. can't sleep.. toss and turn for three hours.. throw on a pair of pants, grab some starbucks, and back to home depot. fueled up but a little tired, i return to the battle field. determined not to be defeated.. i grab my trusty pipe wrench and prepare for the worst. two hours and two trips to hd later, my water heater waves the white flag and admits defeat. grand total for the weekend: $1500, including the new fridge : ) all-n-all.. a rough week but i kept a smile on my face.. let's fast forward one week and 24 hr's of riding later.. lago vista. really don't have much to say. felt pretty good on saturday, felt like we rode a good race. i was riding strong but came up a little short in the end. i need about another month before i'm really rocking and rolling. day two.. feeling real bad. i decided it was probably best to try and "blow" my legs out with a had effort.. didn't work. by lap 5 my break was caught and my day was done. like i said.. give me a month and then we'll see... on the road a little earlier than anticipated. get to dallas, pack my car at brets, and then back on the road to euless. as i'm approaching the midway mark, the idiot temperature light comes on and the temp. needle is pegged.. bad, real bad. i pull over and pop the hood. everybody that knows me, knows that i spend about 20% of my time working on the p.o.s. that i call a car. once again.. i muster a smile, hit the hazards, and drive back roads back to 602. too tired to mess with it, i unpack the car and hit the sack. next morning i wake up, grab a starbucks, and climb under the car. ten minutes and a phone call from smathers later, the problem is diagnosed (water pump) and i'm calling around for estimates. apparently.. when the german vw engineers designed the jetta, they started with a box. sat a water pump on top of it, and then designed the car around it. just my luck. eight phone calls later and the cheapest estimate is $700. trying to keep my smile, i set up an appointment and get it towed to the shop.. BIG thanks to my BEST BUD donman. the car is now sitting in the shop at lewisville volkswagen. bad luck comes in threes. hopefully i'm finished for a little while.. knocking on wood. so far this week i have about 12 hr's of solid training in, including 3 hr's of motorpacing. i'm skipping fayetteville this weekend and going to a t-shirt ride in abilene for specialized. the local shop there is sponsoring the ride and has asked us to make an appearance, doesn't hurt that they're a big specialized dealer. probably will be a little easier on my ego anyway... i plan on another big week next week, followed by redlands next weekend, and then a little rest. UPDATE: just received a call from vw.. apparently the last person who changed my timing belt, stripped the pulley threads in the crank casing... very bad. best case scenario is $250 ($950 + tax total).. worst case, new crank case.. lots of $$$'s. smile is diminishing.. till next time... a slightly smiling surFnick