Ultimate Ride day (Penultimate work day) - RIP Grandma Ev - #163 / Gross #718

So this is my last morning bicycle commute.  Probably the last time for a long time that I'll be starting my day in Brooklyn.  It's pretty warm for January.

I'm starting my ride with Queensryche: Anarchy-X, Revolution Calling. I used to walk along Flatbush starting my day with Operation: Livecrime. Buying this album (for a buck) 2 years ago pretty much put me on the path to progressive and power metal.  I appreciate a good singer so much more now thanks to Geoff Tate.

Grandma Evelyn passed away yesterday around 3pm.  She could only handle so much physically. The shock is that it happened so quickly in the last few weeks.  I'm confident she's in a better place now.  I just wish she would've been able to get in a picture with Miri last year but it was not to be.

It's time to go. Time to wind down.  Warrel Dane: Patterns  One last ride back this way tonite and that's it. Yesterday I went to Penn to get home a little early to relieve my in-laws and of course I got home the exact same time b/c the train stuck.  I want to end all this positively and I'm meditating on what I'll write as my farewell email to my co-workers.  Nearly all of them were great.  Having to start over in the new place will be tougher b/c I'm no longer "the kid."

It's be rough not to see Susan and Jon and Rich and Ashlee and Peter and Indera and George but hopefully I'll see some folks at Legaltech.

Everything Kai Hansen does is that good.

Gamma Ray: One With The World

Helloween: March of Time   Time marches on without us all. In knowing that I created another blog to chronicle my weekend caffeine intake with Miri -- http://caffeinatedad.blogspot.com/ -- it's called CaffeinateDad.  I hope you'll give it a shot. I'll try to make it more visually appealing.

I'll update this later with the math but for now, thank you for reading.

Penultimate Bike Day! Ride 162 (gross: 717)

Too Much Rock and Roll -- it won't get more direct than this.  Why is everything Henry Rollins did with Mother Superior so good and surprisingly some of the B-Sides are just as good if not better?  Nice really was a kick ass album.  Took me so long to want to get it b/c I have nearly all the songs on the live album but "Up For It" and "I Want So Much More" have backup singers, horns and organ so it's totally worth the price.

Was able to hit the gym late last nite and blow off some steam so that's good. I did upper body and my thighs. I could've squatted but it didn't seem necessary.  A full business week of biking is getting the job done for my legs.

I forgot my S'well bottle today so I'll have to hydrate heavily before the night ride home. Should do that anyway all day b/c I'm donating blood.  I'm listening to Mama again b/c I froze out yesterday.  Today is not nearly as cold as the past week so I don't think that'll happen.

It's "Time To Break Free." This song (particularly, this version) is the one that opened me up to Gamma Ray, Helloween, and power metal in general, sometime in 2013 before Miri was born.  It was very reflective of how I was feeling with my job and old manager and career, and also trying to change my attitude about myself.  I saved it for the bridge entrance b/c it's got the perfect amount of energy. I'm not at all angry today, as I need to save my positivity for my loved ones.

I've been in to so much Iron-Gammoween-Saint that they are essentially my big four.  For now, Metallica and Megadeth and Pantera and all those other bands I love can take a backseat.  Wish I would've embraced this more when I was in high school.  But as Binder said recently, "Hey, you're here now."

"Goodbye Hooray" at the time didn't mean to be a sendoff but it makes all the sense in the world now. Kicked ass live.  Realized I hadn't listened to RHCP, and particularly one of their fast/heavy songs, in a while.

Where Maiden has "Wasted Years," Helloween has "Years" and it's basically the same message but wisely incorporates some fast strings.  In my case, I heard Helloween first, so it's #1 in my heart.

A relatively warm, pleasantly uneventful ride.

Last one's tomorrow.

Thank you for reading.

Final Wednesday - 161 - [gross: 716]

Get past the first line in Only The Good Die Young by Iron Maiden and you're off.  I've been listening to a lot of Maiden in the past year-plus.  Not sure what possessed me to get Brave New World in Dec 13, but now that I think of it, it's probably b/c I was so blown away by Gamma Ray and Helloween that I reckoned I had to go just one more step backward to see where it really all comes from.  One could argue that it's Sabbath, but Maiden is faster and more upbeat and had a singer who could actually sing, so I'd argue that Maiden is the pioneering Power Metal band. The one thing I get tired of with them, though, is that there's not enough songs/topics from their own collective viewpoint.  For every "Wasted Years" there's 6 more songs about some ancient killer or king.  Not a bad thing, but I think that's why I prefer Gamma Ray and Helloween (not to say that they also didn't have those types of songs but there's more of a first-person feel to them).  Bruce Dickinson's post-Maiden output in the late 90s rocks.  Darkside of Aquarius. (in the Metrotech tunnel)  I think more of his own thoughts came through on his first 3 solo albums and once Accident came out he had to revert to telling fantastical stories.  Although I will say that his mellower tunes are perfect for commutes ("Navigate the Seas of the Sun," "Omega," "Arc of Space," and even "Change of Heart.")

The street ride was pretty uneventful save for a cab driver who cut me off on Ashland (while I was in the bike lane) next to the hospital.  He was looking for someone/something and I guess he didn't care who was right behind him. I flipped him off with my puffy glove digit and that was all.  There was also some people crossing the street to go in to my old building (4 Metro). There was no car behind me and they see me but couldn't/wouldn't stop so I had to warn them in a gravelly voice to "Just wait a second." It'll be much worse in Manhattan.

Just some paperwork and boring data entry shite today. Looking forward to a good possible "last meal" with Hayter and Binder, though.  Hope we get a picture.

Hitting gym tonite. Donating blood tomorrow.  Missing Chickie and the Lizard.

Thank you for reading.



Jump The Gun - Metal Church (on the bridge)

Anything My Mama Don't Like - Helloween - (it actually froze just as the guitars kicked in)

Final countdown Day 2 of Five - #160 [715]

When I got to Oside station this morning, there was an announcement about the MTA cross-honoring LIRR passes on the subways. No real explanation and it was tempting but it would've been a cop out and I was already decked out in gray sweats.  There's only so many days of this left and my future self will thank my present self (which will be my past self) for the decision to stick with it.

It's a little cold but not terribly windy. After a false start (I realized I needed to use the facilities, so I had to walk back down the ATL stairs) I cranked up Heimdall's "The Almighty" and got to it.  A pretty unremarkable ride on the streets.

I realize the missed opportunity was not taking a picture every day of the progress of 60 Water Street. I basically saw them build that from the ground up and now it looks nearly complete.  I also regret not taking a photo a day of Freedom Tower.  Would've made a cool slideshow.

Couple of pedestrians in my lane today but otherwise not a big deal. The small cop cars that are supposed to slow us down do not help.  They just cause pedestrians to walk in to our lanes.

It was cold enough today that the ipod froze out once I was on Nassau.  It happens.  Got some tedious pseudo-data entry stuff today. Let's just get that done, too.

Hoping to hit the gym by tomorrow so I can donate blood on Thurs w/o incident.

Thank you for reading.

Final Five Final Countdown - #159 / [gross: 714]

Been quite a while since I've blogged here.  I probably should have been doing it for the past 50 weeks and I don't exactly know what the reluctance was.  Either way, I've been biking it since early Feb '14, when I was shipped back after 2 rounds of cuts.  My (no longer new) new group was the whipping boy for this sort of thing and it's somewhat relieving to know I won't have to worry about this for the foreseeable future.  This will be my last full week at ALM.  I'm 6 months shy of 10 years. My whole professional and adult life has been as an employee of this company. My entire time as a husband and father have been financed by checks from here.  There are about a dozen people I'll truly miss seeing every day and it may bring a tear to the old ojos. 

A wintry mix was originally forecast for the morning, and instead a drizzle began just as I left.  I've had worse.  Much, much worse.  

In the last nearly three years, I've been with the Custom Projects Group and I've worked with a lot of really good and talented people.  There were a few do-nothings and lackluster folks who are no longer here and I do not miss them.  Unfortunately I had to re-learn a lesson that Smithers taught me, which is to expect that your manager is not on your side. If by some twist he/she turns out to be one of the good ones, then consider it a bonus. But it's not a given. I have that in mind for the next venture, which will start on the 26th.  

I can't really hear the power metal I'm keyed in to, but it's just loud enough to propel me.  My clothes are getting damper and darker.  I had a hard sleep last nite. Probably from the good workout after nearly 3 days of rest. 

Except for a handful of odd scenarios, I only go to and from Bklyn.  It's safer and shorter.  While the length of the Penn-to-Wall St. ride would have better fueled the calorie burners more, the construction near WFC seems to be ongoing and I want to avoid cars as much as possible.  The Bridge has a steep enough incline and decline and it's only this time of year during which I worry about riding the brake down. Especially at night.   

My glasses are getting fogged up as I'm going down Nassau Street. The last Monday I'll have at this company and building possibly forever, certainly for the long-term. "Time marches on without us all..."

Thank you for reading.

Firewind: Into the Fire; Head Up High; The Silent Code

Gamma Ray: Time To Break Free, As Time Goes By

Helloween: Time Marches On