Let the drive begin

Good thing with the cooler weather my windshield won't look like this.

Well the weekend is here and it is going to be a tight one. Nate has 2 cross races tomorrow, then we are driving to Stevens Point for the WORS banquet and spending the night there at Wade's house for the night. Then we are getting up early and heading to Madison for some more cross racing. Just another usual weekend here. See you are the races and banquet.

I took the Monte Carlo in for some work as I knew the head gasket was leaking. It was a slow leak and we were watching it so it wouldn't blow up and I would loose the engine. But last week it took a crap and got worse and I ran it in. Well after they took the engine down they sent the heads out and they got faced and then the engine was put back together and now the car is running great again. But the wallet is a lot lighter too. It is still better then a car payment or an engine replacement. I hope to get a few more years out of the car so I guess it was money well spent. Time to watch It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown for the second night. Later..

Pumpkins

Maddie and Jess getting ready to stab some pumpkins.

Finished results of a hour plus working on the pumpkins.

Alot of roasted seeds from the pumpkins Mmmmm.

Nothing happening the lat few days as it has been doing a few things like getting the tandem back to Jerry and then take the car in for a head gasket ( crap ) and sit in a meeting this morning. Just sitting back right now watching the trees bend in the gusts of winds up to 70 mph. Fun to watch and listen to. Well nothing new so... Later..

Cross'n in the Mud

Nate going up one of the muddy uphills.

Mmmm worm poop taste good..

Ian and Nate chatting after the race.

Up and over the barriers.

Nate flying past us.

Nate raced the WCA cross races this last weekend and for once the weather was crap. Yesterday was the Kletzch park race and Nate toed the line for the Jr race and the cat 4's. He got away in the Jr's for the win and then placed about 8th in the cat 4's. Then today we headed to Cambridge for the cam rock race. Nate toed the line in a down pour and He and Ian were off the front and stayed off for the remainder of the race with Ian taking the win and Nate in 2nd. Then it was clean the bikes thanks to Han for having the pail so we could wash them and lube up the chain to try to save it. So then after the race we got home and cleaned the tandem so it was a pretty to take back to Jerry tomorrow. Thanks again Jerry for the use of your tandem for the fat tire race. Now I need to get my feet up and relax as I am still recovering from the Metro Fall Social ride that I did yesterday. Later..

Car on the pad

Here is a picture of the car on the pad that we put in last week. I took the picture through the window so the screen messed it up a bit but it is nice to be able to park in back and not on the street. The pad turned out better then I thought it would and was well worth the hard work.

Tomorrow is the Metro fall social ride and I am looking forward to the ride. I have not done on of the social rides in the last 3 years as Nate has been busy with his racing and I had to run his butt to all the races hence making me miss the fun rides. Well he has a car now and he can drive his butt to the races and that is the case tomorrow as the cross race is at in Glendale and he can get there on his own letting me do the fun riding instead of standing all day watching him race. Nice. Well now it is time to get Nate's and my bikes ready. Later..

?????

So it has just been work and then come home and rake the leaves and go for a ride and workout. But today I got home and was getting ready to go for a ride with Nate and the phone rings. I answer it and the guy on the other side says that the blood work that I had done a few weeks ago was tested and misplaced so that explains why I have been waiting for the results. So I have to go in tomorrow again and have more blood drawn out. Great, wait a little longer I guess. But the good thing is my eyes have been doing good for a while now and I only have issues when things are going fast and when I look to the right and then back to the left quickly my right eye is a little slow. But it has been normal for the most part and that is a good thing. Jess is calling so I have to go up and do my Wii workout to lose some weight as I am listed as over weight by the Wii. Later..

Nice

My new parking pad and retaining wall. Along with the newly painted garage and gutters to the right.

My 4 tubs of cana lillies ready for storage till next spring.

My new stairs and mail box.

It has been nice to just pull the car in the parking area that we created last week. I am glad to not be trying to find a spot near the front of my house and trying to race the guy across the street along with his 8 to 10 immigrant family members and their 12 cars. Just a nice feeling I tell you to just look out the back window and see my car safe and sound in it's own little parking area. Also it was nice to be getting the mail out of the new mail box instead of the tiny box that was zip tied to the railing of the porch. Also walking up the new solid stairs is a treat as the boards don't shift and move under your feet that were screwed down about 10 times to have them last even this long before being replaced. Plus the new gutters I hung on the garage are still waiting for some rain to see if I did a good job. Plus the foundation of the house and the garage that my Mom painted looks awesome. Like I said were were just a little busy the last week and a half. Just half to say I could not have gotten it done without my Dad, Mom, Fred, Nate, Maddie, Jess and Cece as they all chipped in to get it all done.

Also going back to work today after having the last week and a half and doing all the chores I got done it was relaxing to just do my work stuff. I feel to relaxed tonight after just doing my work and then riding and lifting after work for once. Nice to be back into the routine again. Plus the nice thing is that tomorrow morning it I have a required HIPPA update meeting. Nothing like a morning of sitting and hearing that you can't talk about this and that at work. But it is a nice easy morning I guess. Hope to get a back row so I can catch up on my sleep. Later..

Season switch

Been busy doing the chores around the house and now we can park on the pad and walk up the stairs to the porch and not have a board move under your feet. Then it was time to smell the diesel and move a ton of dirt. It is a work of art to see the mounds of dirt be formed into the track for the racers to enjoy over the period of a few days. The racing starts on Nov. 7th and the practice I think starts on Nov 10th but I will check that out for sure though. But it was a blast to see the bmx family and get the bmx bikes dusted off for some fun racing coming up. I say coming up as Nate was very busy this summer racing his road, track, mtn bike's this summer leaving no time for the bmx bike. Now I need to get the road bikes out for a nice long ride in this great weather we are having. Later..

Parking pad

Today Fred came back and we finished the retaining wall around the parking pad. It was a little complicated at spots but Fred figured them out and it turned out real nice. Now another day or 2 and I will have a spot to park my car. It sure will beat parking on the street and having to deal with the snow this winter. then I dug up the cana lillies and put everything away. That left me enough time to go for a nice ride with Nate. Now this weekend I have more dirt to move. Glad I took a week off to get all this stuff done. Now I need to grab another bowl of home made popcorn and a bowl of ice cream. Later..

Sheboygan

Here are a few of the pictures that I was able to find taken by some of the fine WORS peeps. Nate had a good day and I think he was glad that the season is over as he has raced a ton this summer and his legs were showing the wear and tear of a long season. But he gave it his all and he finished 4th place. Good season and now we are looking forward to the indoor bmx season to start and hang with our Sun Ringle team again. So if you have a bmx bike come on out to the indoor track and other then that we will see at Ray's a few times a week to.

Today we did more honey do list things. My Dad, Mom and I got the garage painted, hung another new gutter on the other side as I already replaced the other side as it was wreaked by a falling branch from the apple tree, took the front steps to the front porch out as they were rotten and falling apart and replaced them already. Just have to finish the sides of the stairs and put the railing back up. Also I want to paint the foundation of the house before Thursday as Fred is coming back and we are going to do the retaining wall up around the parking pad. Just been keeping a little busy the last few days as I had a few weeks to burn so why not get a ton of chores done. Now I need to get some ice cream as it is going to be another long few days. Later..

My cement pad is in.

Looks pretty good for 3 guys that never did this before.

Today my Dad, Fred and I framed in the parking pad and the got the cement delivered. I have to say that striking the cement and then running the float has left me a few blisters. Now I have to water it a few times a day and wait till the weekend and I have a parking spot for the car. Thursday my Dad, Fred and I are going to put the retaining wall back up so that should make it look real nice. Can't wait. Tired and now watching the Monday Night Football game. Later..

Congratulations Dr. Labecki

Congratulations Dr. Wade Labecki. Dr. Wade earned his doctorate today and now we have a Dr. in the family. He has been working hard the last few years to earn it and now has it in his hands. Way to go Dr. Wade Labecki. Very proud of you and your hard work. Later..

So done

The dirt is gone and the travel bond is down and compacted. Now we are going to have the cement delivered on Monday. Wow all I have to say is Fred is a machine and if we had not had to drive 40 minutes round trip to get rid of the dirt we would have finished sooner. But it is looking good and I can't wait to be able to park on the side of the garage instead of on the street. Well time to relax as Fred worked my to death the last 2 days. Later..

10/6/10

I had a weights and measures conference for the last 3 days that I had to run as I was the President of the Wisconsin Weights and Measures Association for the last year. I have to say that it was a pleasure to be the President as the other workers and industry in the weights and measures field are all great. So now I can relax as the last 3 days have been a little stressful.

Well I didn't relax for long as when I got home I removed my block retaining wall and patio bricks so when Fred gets her tomorrow we can remove the apple tree stump and the top soil in the back yard. Then we are going to frame in a parking pad and get the cement poured in next week. Got to have a spot for the car as I do not like parking it on the street and I will not like it when winter comes along as I won't have to dig the car out when the f'n snow plows plow the cars in. So I have a little work to do the next few days and next week as I took some days off to get it done. Now I need some Ibuprofen as my back and legs are sore from moving 300 plus cement blocks from my old wall. Later..

Cross'n at the Domes

So it has been a busy weekend of racing for Nate. Yesterday he raced the cross race at the domes and it was a killer course. Nate toed the line for the Jr race and was sitting good for a while and just moved backwards as the race went on and finished 4th or 5th. Being the first race of the year I think that he needs to get back into the efforts and the running. After the Jr race Nate then raced the cat 4's and finished 5th in that race. Mitch has a awesome day of racing as he won both the Jr and cat 4 race, congrats on a great day. Good day of racing and then we hung around to watch the rest of the racing action. Good action in all the racing and as always a blast to watch.

Then last night it was off to Mo's Irish Pub in Tosa to celebrate Bonnie's 40th Birthday. It was nice to hang with all the gang again. It had been a while since I seen many of the others and it was nice to catch up. Thanks Bonnie and John for the invite. Oh yeah it was awesome to be out and have no one smoking in the place, what a treat to be able to breath and not smell like shot when you go home.

Today Nate raced a cross race in DeKalb Illinois. He took 3rd in the Jr race and did not race the 4's as it was full. Gage took the 1st place in the Jr race and Ryan took a 4th place. I don't know how Gage and Jeremey finished in their other races. Thanks Jeremey for taking Nate to the race.

While they raced I rode and then hung a new gutter on the garage as when we cut the apple tree down a branch took the old one down. That was OK as the old gutter was crappy and leaking at the joints so I needed to get it done. I did it myself and I hope that it holds up and finally doesn't leak on our heads as we walk under it during the rain as that always sucked. Looks pretty good for a person that didn't know what to do in the beginning when I started. Now I have to run and get Nate and then pack for the Weights and Measures conference that I am hosting stating tomorrow till Wednesday. Later..

Tic-Toc, time is flying today

Today was a perfect day to use one of my many vacation days that I have to burn before the end of the year. I got up early and cleaned up the branches that we kept for firewood and stacked them nicely to be out of the way. Then I trimmed and cut the grass to clean up all the leaves and sticks from cutting the tree down. After that it was time to put all the pool items and toys away above in the garage for the winter. Then I got Nate's dirt jumper and a bunch of my spare bmx pants and helmets and anything else that I thought they would need together so Ric Damm and his Ripon College cyclists could use it at the Collegiate Mtn Bike Regionals this weekend. Good Luck Ripon racers oh yeah Aris too. Now I am getting dinner ready for tonight and then I have to call a few concrete places for a parking pad to be poured in a week and a half. One thing I do have to do is not forget to get Jessie today as I did yesterday as I was cutting down the apple tree and time got away and I was 15 minutes late. I promise I won't forget today. Wade is coming in tonight also as we are going to few football games again this weekend to watch the officials as State Championships will be here before you know it and he needs to pick the crews by then. I also have to try to find a gutter at one of the hardware stores as the one on the garage came down when a branch fell on it yesterday. Got to get back to the steak tacos so I don't burn the meat and get Jess to, maybe I will send Nate to get her. Have a good night and see you at the cross race tomorrow. Later..