Hello.

Sorry for the silence again, but I finally got caught up reading some of the more recent posts. Sounds like everyone is doing alright in their endeavors.

I got a new addition this past week. I got inked at a studio in Chicago, and I am pleased. The idea is a bonsai tree that I can fill in as time goes on: a new blossom/leaves for a milestone in my life such as turning a certain age, a promotion, getting hitched, having a kid, etc. On the flipside – a dead or wilting leave on the ground for each tragedy in my life: someone dying and the sort.

It’s on the back of my left calf; I’d say that the rumors of pain are exaggerated, but maybe it’s because I got it on a place that isn’t traditionally too unbearable.

Pardon my late entry to the re-opening of RideFetish, err…Ride Your Bike. Briefly looking at the posts, it seems that very few of us actually ride Fetish brand cycles anymore.

Very briefly, here is a rundown of the biking-related activities that have taken place since last year. I sold all Fetish brand bicycles that I had. I remember mentioning that I sold the Position (now Attack), but I also ended up selling the Inizio to some kid who went to UIC. He probably got it promptly stolen, and had no idea what the “little springs” were for on the pedals. As for the presta valves, he was completely befuddled and kept asking, “How would I put air in my tires?” Since it was a local sell, I dropped it off at his home in Bridgeport; the good news out of all of it is that I got to see my old haunts, and he paid above my BIN price on Ebay, which was fine with me.

After ridding myself of the entire Fetish line, I built up the Rocky Mountain Solo 70 ST. I put up pictures and specs, but the final build is truly beautiful. I wish I could have used that in the bike buildoff instead of the Tarmac Pro. Speaking of the Tarmac Pro, I sold that last month on Ebay. Part of it was due to the fact that I knew I would be moving in June, and I mean…I had an awesome bike in the RM already that I can race, and most of my riding had been shifting to the cyclocross bike as it is. So I’m down to two bikes now in the stable, which is actually quite adequate.

I’ll use this as a segue to get into the current work situation. Cyclocross season was a bust for me in 2008. I wanted to start the beginning of the season and see it to the end, but unfortunately my job at the time made it difficult because I had to work weekends to finish up the current project. I was constantly angry during the summer because of my job at Northwestern. I should clarify: working at NU was enjoyable and I had great support from my supervisor, but the nature of the job that was dictated by the coordinating center in Seattle became asinine to say the least. They demanded a lot, gave little, and in the end lost/will lose more technicians who have been working on the project since day 1.

If you recall, my original job consisted of setting up air samplers around the Chicagoland area with a regular schedule of setting up/taking down 5 – 6 homes every other week plus maintaining 5 fixed sites. For the project that pushed me over the edge, they wanted me to set up 35 homes in the course of two weeks. Of course they put the cart before the horse and didn’t think anything about how it would logistically work. And why should have they? They weren’t the ones doing any of the real work, and most of them hadn’t even seen the field in years. Anyway, over the course of the project I accumulated around 40 weeks of credit time which I used later. When I was taking down the samplers for the project, they finally sent someone to help me, which made things easier.

After my complaints, they sent 2 people to help in the next city that did the project, and I heard it was much smoother. But you know what? It was too late because all they had to do was use their brain for 8 seconds before pushing all that crap on me and it was a lost cause in my eyes.

I started looking earnestly for new jobs in late September of 2008. It’s not to say that I hadn’t looked earnestly before. My scope and focus were just a little misaligned during those times. In the times prior to September, I really just was looking for a way out, no matter what it was. But I narrowed my scope this time around, and made a promise to myself that I’d only take a job that was the right fit. I mean, I could sell stuff at CDW for a few years, and get out of there, but why even bother?

I put in applications to a few private firms that had needs for environmental scientists and engineers, and somewhere along in that process it occurred to me that there were also government jobs available. After doing some research and asking around, I sucked it up and went to a government job fair in November specifically to speak with the US EPA. I came back for an interview in December, and accepted an offer in February. The new job is treating me well, and it’s in the Air and Radiation Division. My job in a nutshell is to help states in Region 5 (IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI) make sure that their air pollution emissions are within the federal standards. It’s busy so I don’t mentally atrophy any more than I have been already for the last year or so. In the three weeks that I’ve been here, I’ve worked on responding to letters from the public, approving revisions to states’ rules in regards to consumer products with volatile organic compounds in them, compiling a rule book for Ohio, and working a presentation for the new 2008 lead standards for airborne lead concentrations. I consider myself extremely lucky given the economy to have found a new job. The last time that my section hired someone new was 6 years ago, so that guy was happy to rid himself of the ‘FNG’ moniker. As expected, the EPA is full of cyclists who commute to work. I have ridden with a guy who commutes on an old Lemond Zurich, and my supervisor has a Gunnar Crosshairs that he’ll ride in on. They have much longer commutes than my current 2.65 mile ride in from the near west side. The federal building I work in has adequate storage space and showers/lockers, so I lucked out there too.

Come mid June my commute will be cut down to 6 blocks. At that point I will probably not even ride in anymore, but just walk. Yep, after 2 years in the “hood” with urban sprawl/gentrification/etc. I’m moving to the south loop in Chicago. I wanted a change in scenery, and to move back into one of the nice apartment buildings again. Of course I’ll be paying for it too. My current situation of 3 bedrooms/2 baths will be shrunk to 1 bed/1 bath with a little more than half the space that I have now. And I’ll be paying more too, but it’ll be ok. I’m looking forward to being in the midst of things and within walking distance to the grocery stores, Target, PetsMart, etc. This is the building I’ll be moving into: www.amli900.com

My dog might be disappointed by the smaller space, but at least he’ll have access to a bigger dog run with a private park just for the apartment residents. Jennifer is excited too – she’s never lived in a place with a doorman. Ha.

So that’s what I’ve been up to – it’s good to see that most of you are still around. Take care, we’ll talk soon.

pardon the delay at posting something. i will have some fodder up soon.

the roth twins are getting old…just kidding. happy birthday, guys.

Hi Everyone,

I know that I am as much to blame as the next person, but where is everyone these days? I’d like an update on what people are doing. We used to come onto this site and blog and comment, but seems like that has died down maybe due to our schedules or other bike networking sites. Just drop a few lines and let us know what you’re riding these days, where you are, what you’re doing, etc.