Forced to be Something I'm NOT!

As I move through my daily existence I'll admit that cycling is on my mind A LOT! I guess I put a lot of my identity into that endeavor. Some might even say, "That Eki guy can ride his bike a long way".  With that being said I have to realize this isn't all I am and real life has a way of proving that.

During my forced hiatus from the bike I decided I needed to take care of some business around the house. I usually approach house hold "fix it" tasks with an insane amount of anal retentiveness and this has allowed me to accomplish a thing or two. For example, a few years back I decided we needed a shed, so I checked a book out of the library, read it, then built a pretty sweet shed (if I do say so myself). It kind of turned out like a mini Swiss alps style chalet. A minimalist could probably live there happily.

So, the little leak under the wash tub was going to be dealt with. I figured maybe an hour tops. I enlisted the assistance of my neighbor who originally installed the wash tub with me handing him a tool from time to time (Thanks Gary). In all honesty, plumbing scares me. I could flood the house - I don't want that!  Well, much like that quick fix you intend to do to the bike before a ride that ends up canceling the ride, because it all goes so bad. While one problem would be solved another would emerge. I tried to think as if I were a molecule of water, "why am I trying to get out of these pipes and hoses so bad?"

Several trips to Home Depot, several ruined parts, a lot of water spilled all over the place and yes, some swearing, the job is done (fingers crossed) I think. I won't go into all the details, but the phrase, "Are you kidding me?" came out of my mouth so many times I can't count them as I saw a big crocodile tear droplet hanging from the "job site".

The moral to the story is that whenever I hear someone say, "How do you do that?", when they talk to me about a 200 or even 300 mile ride, I'm pretty sure I can find something about them that will get me asking the same question back. We all have something we can do well and other things that we wish we could. For me, I wish I was a better PLUMBER.

I'm so glad to be back in my comfort zone. As I swung a leg over my winter commuter this morning I whispered..."Miss me?". I could have sworn I heard, "It's about time"....