the birm*

So a few of us male teaching staff went to see X-men 3 last night. Not a bad show, obviously not the same director, but still worth seeing “at the movies”. All I will say about it is: don’t leave before the end of the credits…

I just found my first grey hair (for those of you who haven’t seen me for a while, it’s the first time in 3 years that my hair has been allowed to grow more than 4 weeks). I noticed it as I was washing my face after period 2 at school today. I raced out and asked a friend to confirm it: “oh yeah…that’s a nice long curly one…I think you’re right Dan”. So there you go, the beginning of wisdom?

The pros and cons of [cheap] hydraulic disc brakes:

I was riding home from school along the uni bike path, popping monos (a wheelie that you do standing up, without pedalling), seeing how long I could hold them for (which is what I often do along this section on my way home).
The deal with monos is that you pull up and balance. If you go down forward you lean back and if you lean back too much, you brake, thus bringing the front back down. So I was doing a few, waiting for a mate, when I pulled up a bit hard, braked…braked…braked and nothing happened. Well, at least with my rear brake. The result was that I slammed the concrete with my rear cheek and right elbow with a mighty bang. I thought I’d broken something, I got up, looked at the bike but could hardly breathe or move due to the severe pain in my butt. I knew I had a gaping hole in my shorts and that blood would poor out shortly…so I hopped [painfully] back on and rode home slowly. Once home I checked myself out and found that there was neither hole nor blood, which was nice. My bum was all red and very sore. Kinda like a funny dull pain, I couldn’t sit or stand without laughing in pain. Hours later [after riding into town to watch Brazil with Adam] I looked at it again and was almost sick. My whole right cheek was like a bruised peach: black, red and purple. check out a photo here

Well I don’t know if there’s anything in the world more painful…but if there is I don’t want to know about it! The following is not for the faint hearted…but read on!

I went to the dentist’s yesterday to get 2 wisdom teeth removed. I’ve said it before and I thought I’d never say it again, but I NEVER WANT TO EVER DO THAT AGAIN! Last time was in belshaft, while I was in norn iron and I said I’d get it done in hospital, totally knocked out next time…

It’s not so much the pain, though the deep needles in the gums and roots before hand were not enjoyable, it’s more the feeling, the taste, the sounds and the thoughts. You know what’s going on. You can see the instruments he picks up, you can hear metal grinding on teeth, the teeth gnashing against each other, teeth braking, roots giving way, you can feel the force he is putting down on your mouth and the amount of force he is using to pull, you can taste the blood trickling down your throat…I almost fainted due to my fast breathing, so I asked “I think I’m gonna faint, is that ok?” the dentist just told me to breathe slower… once the 2 scum bags were out (and my gums sewed up), he showed me the bloody teeth (complete with pieces of gum still on them) and bits of bone that “came out with them”, I was almost sick as he showed me and explained what he had just done…

So it’s no blowing my nose for 2 weeks (which means no riding!!!) due to the possibility of infection and no strenuous exercise. Bum. Of course once the physical pain is over, the wallet comes out…

In my upcoming book “101 reasons I love winter”, reason 63: apples are in season in Australia! Yum, I’m munching on a fresh, cold, sweet and juicy Royal Gala right now J

Went for 2 great rides on Saturday: in the morning I rode 19km to killi to meet up with monkey. We rode 2 laps of the “new” state track (which will prob be the 8hour track as well). Plenty of sweet single track, clean turns, nice downhills and gruelling uphiils. After an hour or so I rode home, had some cake, apple pie, custard and yoghurt (left over from the “dessert and games night” the night before) and a cup of tea, read a book, played with a puda program and had some pasta for lunch. After a wee lie down I was back on the bike, headed for glenrock (about 8km away). I stopped on the way to chat to a Scottish bicycle tourer and met up with some older boys at Haasie’s place. We rode round for a good hour or so on the sweet glenrock trails. The sun was setting, so twas very scenic (especially with the beaut surf rolling in…). I rode home just before dark, making it 90km for the day, which isn’t bad. I then went to play tennis with the men from Church (after some more left overs from the previous night…). Quite a relaxing Saturday J

So I went for the 2 finger pocket with my left hand, locked off and went up with my right hand when a “twang” accompanied with an electric shock, which went down my arm, made me let go. I’d popped or pulled or snapped my tendon in my “ring finger” on my left hand. This, of course, put an end to the bouldering session at “the chook house” with adski and tezza. I iced when I got home and it’s been annoying since. It’s strange, kinda painful but more a hassle than pure pain. Riding to school was not enjoyable and it’s weird the things you lift with or use that finger for (really bizarre!).

Had a great time in burleigh heads with the folks and nome and adam. The surf was huge but sooooooooooooooooo busy (over 200 people one morning), I only went in once and caught one wave in 2 hours (too crowded and a lot of agro surfers plus quite fast sucky waves). We did a puzzle, which I’d purchased in taree, had some great food and coffee, hang out, chatted, walked, swam and went to kangaroo point (brisvegas) for a spot of climbing and BBQ.
Coming home I dropped in on Ado and Amanda in Ballina for some wraps (Yum!) then stayed the night in evans head with my gran, uncle, auntie and cousins. There, as usual, I caught the best waves I have ever surfed! Warm water, rising sun, long walls, no crowds, good company…so therapeutic!

I got back from wagga on Sunday arvo, dumped ash and maria, had a wash, some dinner, packed my bags, packed the car and was off at 7pm, headed for Burleigh heads (with the intention of stopping somewhere a few hours later for the night). I got to nabiac (2 hours north of newie), filled the boar up with fuel, went to start off…I tried again and…I popped the hood, fiddled a bit, hit some stuff…still nothing. I called roadside assistance, they sent a tow truck which took me to taree (20kms north). I got dropped off outside the auto-electricians (on the main road) and slept in the car (which I was going to do anyway…but in a more scenic location). Had a great sleep, waited around til the place opened. As it were they were busy and had less staff and they couldn’t fix it til lunchtime, so I strolled around taree (not the biggest town in the world, but enough to see, read and eat) until 1:30pm when the care was ready (starter motor strip and parts changed). 128 bux later I was back on the road and at about 8pm I hit the burleigh, pretty tired. I decided that, since I was forking out razoos for the car, I may as well keep going: $200 for some tires and $115 for a service and hose change. It’s been running heaps well since and I guess it’s still a very cheap car… J

Dorge, maria and I went to wagga to lexi and jeff’s wedding. We left at 6am, drove the brown boar and got to wagga at 12:30pm, pretty good going. We hung out with some ol’ friends, the mcintosh’s, dressed up and went to the wedding. The ceremony and reception were great. It was fantastic to witness such great people get together. we met some great people and stayed the night at the Gibbes’ near Tumut. Thanks to their hospitality we slept in beds rather than in the car and outside, which was good cause it was a -1 degree night. The brown boar made it back to newie the next day without complications, which was nice!