Anthony D. Morrow
ADM
http://www.imadm.com/
Cerritos, CA 90703
USA

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Phone: 562.467.0093
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Your Competition Is Training
MON, 30 OCT 2006
Last Thursday at Hughes Park Thursday Night World Championships the Coates guys were out including Rigo and Ruben Meza and so was Rahsaan Bahati. I hadn't seen these guys since the season ended, something like 8-10 weeks ago. On Saturday, there were plenty of guys out on the Velocity club ride, some I hadn't seen in a while. Then on Sunday, when I went up to GMR/Baldy to do some climbing with Ken and Gary, we saw Pat Caro (Helen's) and several others, including a Toyota-United rider we didn't recognize, heading out on a ride, presumably out throuh Azusa Canyon to East Fork or Crystal Lake. And finally, as we came across Cow Saddle from GMR to Baldy, Gil Correa (my teammate) came flying by the other way on the descent. He turned around, climbed back up with us, then we all went back toward GMR and he kept going to get home while we went down the back of GMR for one last leg kill.

The point? Your competition is training. It's better to see them out there, knowing you're training, too, than to wonder what they're doing better than you.

Now get off the computer and go ride!

-adm
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Lucky Charms Surprise
TUE, 17 OCT 2006
I've tried to control how much food, if any, I bring up to my office to eat while I work. It used to be I'd bring whole bags of chips, cookies, or whatever, and no matter how large, I would consume all or nearly all of the contents of the package. It was obvious this was bad, but when I really started to look at how I could cut calories from my diet, knocking off the senseless snacking, or at least reducing it, was going to help a bunch.

I knew I couldn't just quit snacking. After all, it's helpful to eat throughout the day to keep from being hungry and instead of gorging on three large meals a day. I ended up with a strategy that's been working. I don't bring bags of anything up. Instead, I grab a plate or bowl and serve myself a small to moderate portion of the item. It's amazing how much less I eat while still feeling snack satisfied. And, when I do want more, I am far more conscious of how much more I'm eating because it requires another trip downstairs to get it.

Lucky Charms - Magically Delicious!This leads me to my title story - Lucky Charms Surprise.

I had my favorite snack with me upstairs today: Lucky Charms cereal. As I worked at the computer, I reached over to the bowl on my desk and grabbed some Lucky Charms, brought them to my mouth, and was almost able to feed myself correctly. I sloppily let a few sugar frosted oats fall from my grasp before making it to my mouth. Two of them landed on my shirt and I picked them up and popped them in my mouth, but a third found its way to the floor. I looked down from my chair and didn't see it. "Must've went under the desk," I thought. I got down on my knees to look and noticed the frosted oat under the bottom shelf of the printer rack next to my desk, an inch past the front. I plucked the frosted oat out from under the shelf with a couple fingers, gave it a quick look and a blow to be sure it didn't have any dust bunnies or other cooties, and then popped it in my mouth. After all, I keep a pretty clean house/office, and I was pretty sure it was picked up within the five-second rule.

I started chewing and sensed I'd made a big mistake. The frosted oat wasn't right. It wasn't "magically delicious". It seemed spongy, stale. And then it occurred to me that the frosted oat I picked up from under the printer stand wasn't the one I just dropped. The frosted oat I was chewing was from some time ago. Who knows how long? Already committed to the process, I swallowed and took several sips of coffee to wash it down.

Three things:

  1. Obviously my office isn't as clean as I would like to think!
  2. It's been nearly 16 hours and no ill effects have come over me.
  3. Yes, I did hunt for and found the other frosted oat. To clarify: the one I dropped today, at least I think so. I had kind of lost my appetite for fallen frosted oats, and without any way to confirm this one's identity, I tossed it in the trash.

-adm
Tell Me Your Thoughts

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Quick Ride, Quick Blog
SUN, 15 OCT 2006
I've been feeling bad about not blogging as much lately. It's not that there isn't something interesting to share, it's just that I've been doing other stuff. In fact, there's been a lot of experiences that would make great blog fodder, but I just haven't been able to park my rear end in the chair in front of the computer to type them up. To compromise, I'm going to do some speed blogging. Ready?

1. Quick ride: Supposed to get in a four to five hour climbing ride today. Instead, I felt terrible and turned around early, got in about 28 miles in an hour and 45 minutes. Got home about 9:00 AM, made a pot of coffee, greasy bacon, ham and eggs, and had a nice breakfast with Jule, followed by a Burger King linner (lunch/dinner) and some Oreos and pretzels for evening snack. And a Heineken. Seriously.

2. What's with Wal-Mart and those freakin' pink stickers when you need to make a return? I walked in the door, and took an immediate right, straight to the customer service counter, and was verbally assaulted by an elderly woman "associate" as I was just about to be helped by the counterperson. She cried bloody murder because I hadn't stopped to get a sticker from her. I didn't realize her or the fact she needed to put a pink sticker on my item to ensure world peace and her job. Unfortunately, I took the low road and snapped back and quickly became the store villain. Bwahahaha.

After dealing with my return, I decided to redeem myself and went to apologize to the woman for my less-than-noble behaviour. I was truly sorry about my response, knowing I could have and should have been more tame. Still, I remain frustrated because I was the one who was mistreated in the first place, yet I was the one who came off looking bad in the exchange and I was the only one to issue an apology. Alas, nobility has its price.

3. Kings have played just five games of this 82-game season and are already looking disappointing. We are fans, good times and bad, but it hurts so much more when the wounds of missed or meager playoff play and general mediocrity never heal. The Kings got two wins against teams they should have beaten, but they sure stunk up the joint when playing more formidable foes. Last night, we got to see the Dallas Stars out-pass, out-skate, out-hustle, and out-score the Kings at Staples Center. "Let's Play Harder!" was chanted by all, mocking the Kings' low-expectation tagline for the season, "Play Hard!" A consolation was in tonight's game between the Ducks and Stars. The Stars managed to lead most of the game, and despite a last-minute tying goal by Anaheim, ended up with the win by shoot-out. The Stars are on a role. We also hold onto the hope that the Kings are looking to reverse their typical trend of great season starts and late season fizzles, by coming out slow and then setting it on fire to make a Stanley Cup run. Please, oh please, let that be it.

Guess that wasn't so quick after all.

-adm
Tell Me Your Thoughts

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The Fury of Two One-Cent Stamps
FRI, 06 OCT 2006
I've been clearing out some of my extra bicycle gear by selling it online. I had two packages and a greeting card I wanted to get out so I decided I would drop them all off at the nearby post office before jumping on the freeway to go to Hughes Park for my Thursday evening ride.

USPS Tiffany Lamp One-Cent StampsAs I waited at the red light just before the post office, I glanced over at the card and realized I'd put a 37 cent stamp on and forgot to add two one-cent stamps to cover the current postage rate of 39 cents for a First Class letter. "No big deal," I thought. The post office has a machine that takes pennies and dispenses one-cent stamps. I'll just get two, put them on the envelope, and be on my way.

It was almost 7 PM so the lot was nearly empty. I pulled into the closest spot, opened my ashtray and fished out a few pennies and some other coins, too, just in case the machine was being finicky. I left the car running and went inside to do my thing.

I could see a woman starting to use the stamp machine when I walked in. She looked confused. I dropped my two packages in the drop bin and then turned to watch her try and figure out the machine. I tried to be patient and understanding as she slowly read the LED display prompts. She fed in $1.30 in change and then tried to make her purchase. She punched the keys to get one-cent stamps. The machine said, "Enter Qty.: 1-10". She tried entering "130", so the machine displayed an error message and propted her again to "Enter Qty.: 1-10". After what seemed like at least a minute, she entered 10 and 10 one-cent stamps were dispensed.

After her first attempt to punch in 130, it was obvious she was going to have to go through the key punch sequence ten times. What was even more frustrating was she didn't have the mental dexterity to figure out it was the same key punch sequence each time. It appeared she needed to read the LED screen each time to learn how to get her stamps. My patience waned and time ticked.

At about 60 one-cent stamps and what felt like hours later, I summoned the strength to gather myself and asked her in my kind voice, "Miss, I am in a bit of a hurry and need just two one-cent stamps for this letter I am mailing. May I give you two cents and have two from the end of your roll?" She had turned to look at me as I asked my question, so I got to see a glazed look come over her face. It took her another ten seconds after I last spoke to process my request and respond, "I need 130." She turned back to the machine and continued reading the LED screen and getting her stamps. I stood behind her dumbfounded.

Upon her 11th request, the machine dispensed 9 one-cent stamps, displayed on the LED that it was sold out of those, and waited for the woman to choose another purchase or request her change. I looked on as my mind shouted, "IT FIGURES!"

Let's recap the situation: I need two one-cent stamps. The machine is sold out. My car is running outside and I'm now running late to my ride. The woman has purchased all of the one-cent stamps available, yet is still 21 short (109 of 130) of her goal. I figured this was an opportunity to try again, so I said to her, "Maam, I need two one-cent stamps. May I please buy two from you so I can send my card?"

The words will haunt me; she spoke them again. "I need 130."

I blew.

"What the heck do you need 130 one-cent stamps for!? You bought all the one-cent stamps, I only need two, and you won't sell them to me? YOU ARE RUDE! YOU ARE A BAD PERSON! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!"

It was then I struggled with my humanity. My inner-child said I should fall to the floor and kick and scream. My animal instinct was even louder, calling for blood. It was my intellect, my capacity for rational thought, that kept me from succumbing to the fury of two one-cent stamps.

-adm
Tell Me Your Thoughts

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I'm An Apple Geek
THU, 05 OCT 2006
Apple Store Business Card - Fashion ShowI'm a geek, I'm a geek, I'm an Apple, an Apple Geek.

It was totally unplanned, but I logged another Apple Store visit while in Las Vegas for Interbike. That makes 14! Take that, Duke!

See all the geeky details here »

-adm
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Back From Interbike
MON, 02 OCT 2006
ADM and Frankie AndreuI'm back from Interbike in Las Vegas. Chris DeMarchi and I headed out to the show early Wednesday morning and got two full days in of walking the floor, taking photos, and seeing all the cool stuff and people. We partied like rock stars (cycling stars?) on Wednesday and Thursday night and... well, what happened in Vegas stays in Vegas, but I can share this photo of me and Frankie Andreu.

We made it back to Chris' house in Chino in something like three hours. Faaaaast.

I'll have my full Interbike wrtie-up and photos at the Velo Allegro website soon.

-adm
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