Friday i putzed around while and during several I need to take care of business.

First off was the 8:00AM service appointment @ Sprinter repair. Made it on time but the part was not in: dealer mistake as I made the appointment and the part need almost 2 weeks prior. reschedule for Tues w/ a statement that they will do something extra for me. I asked for a van wash. Maybe.

My van insurance expired on Fri. I stopped @ the office to work out coverage. My present carrier raised rate, the agent shopped but what I have is what she said was the best. OK. I am able to monthly autodeduct from my checking account w/ no penalty payment. Sweet.

Back to Mountain Gear to buy a new pair of lowcut hiking shoes and feed more info to Brian the day b4 his gang leaves for Sun Valley. He is excited and so am I for him, his is more than mine. Got a shower to boot.

I drove to The Elk in Browns’ addition for dinner @ The Elk. Only 1 person remains from crew members I have known. Comfortable place. I continually seek another place like The Rivers Eatery in Cable, WI, thanks Mick and Beth. easy on the eyes Danniell.

Spent night @ Bill’s.

My new Giro feature helmet arrived on Fri, overnight.

Today I drove to Seven Mile to meet Tom, Cal, Mel, and Les for a Riverside ride. Each has a quality bike. We all skied together for years, they on short turn alpine skis and me on my long telemark skis. They would seek the tight which sometimes was too tight for me. Today we were all on bikes riding trails I know quite well. I was the top dog. Yes.

My heart rate was not as high as Wed’s easy ride. Still chest palpitations.

Visited Bicycle Butler on way out. Got a shower.

The way majority of cars wear Washington State license plates w/ a few Idaho mixed in. My plates are WA also. Everywhere I look I see signs of the state I am registered to. I am not the outlier in say Arkansas. No paranoia of being stopped because I am out of state.

I have my appointment w/ heart DR on Monday. Score.

Sundown is 7:09. I am in a county park. I need to go as the sun has gone down w/ deepening dusk.

Off to Bill’s driveway which is right across the road from my former house.

Right knee still hurts.

Wed I continued connecting w/ old friends. N Div serviced my bike. They staunched the oil flow from the fork damper. Successful dentist appointment except I have a tooth just waiting for the wrong placed bite to fracture it for a crown replacement. The insurance policy has a 1 year waiting period for 50% coverage of crown. No elk burgers until May 3, 2013.

Visited Mountain Gear. Brian is heading to Sun Valley soon. I shared w/ him ride ideas which he enthusiastically received. I plan on being down there later in Oct after the fall rains have hopefully fallen to damped the forest fires.

I connected @ Bicycle Butler. Tim was off to road ride w/ Gino owner of Round and Round productions. Gino is 71 yo.

Yesterday I set off for an easy ride in relatively flat Riverside SP. I lowered my ride effort and watched the HR which was disconcertingly too high for the effort. Enjoyable riding spinning trails. Devil’s up and Down is a nasty piece of old eroded single lane road bed over basalt chunks. Devil’s up is where I fell many years ago, the landing tore 2 of the 4 shoulder tendons and put me on the surgical table of the ortho DR I saw on Monday. Still is a dicey climb. Further along on the really nasty Devil’s Down. Years ago Fat Tire Trail riders Club that I co-founded scored an IMBA trail care crew visit did a reroute of the straight down hill run. The last several years of riding here I have shied away from the Down and rode our by pass. This year I stopped @ the top and studied the junk and picked a line that I thought would go. It took me 2 times to finally roll over the edge. I made it down. I rode back up our by pass then set up for another descent on Down. My line and control was better this time. Confidence accomplishment.

Almost at ride’s end did I remember I had a 3:00 appointment w/ Dennis downtown. He invests my $. I called to apologize then pushed the speed limit to make downtown meeting @ Fast Eddies and $1.00 happy hour beers.

Then friend Tom arranged a Lopper’s Ball reunion @ No-Li for beer drinking and story telling. Good buds from days gone by. I satisfied my yearly storage fee @ Tom’s house for a beer. We planned a ride on Sat and a gathering next week. Cal and Dave work for Boeing back in the Puget Sound but live in Spokane. Boeing is earning record profits but is attempting to squeeze the white collar union w/ take aways in the contract negotiations. 12 years ago the union struck.

I scored a Monday AM appointment w/ heart DR. First step to learning what’s up w/ the life pump.

Tonight I will have dinner @ my old favorite, The Elk, in Brown’s Addition. Year’s ago I slept on the street nearby where somebody tried to steal my bike off the rack. I was awakened and chased him away. Rather brazen on both our parts.

Here’s kudos to a restaurant: Last night I ate @ a Thai restaurant. I ordered Phad Tai. Heat level was from 0 to hottest 5. I ordered level 2 which turned out to be way hotter than I could enjoy. The waiter asked how my dinner was. I was still shoveling in the over hot good food. i reported that it was too hot for me but I ordered it. he asked if he could re-prepare it to make it less hot and not charge me for a second dinner. I said i made the choice and would eat it. He insisted on making me another serving. I finally accepted the offer.

Been staying at my old neighbors’ house across the road from my former house. 31 degrees several mornings ago. 2 nights I have slept w/ the heater on low.

Ah, big sprawling Spokane.

I shop @ Yokes grocery store down in the valley. Today I bought beer from their collection, many were beers that I had bought elsewhere in the country. Boulevard brewery from Kansas City. Really?

Smokey here.

Yesterday I rolled into Spokane. First up was my long time body parts fixer. Xrays revealed no loss of cartilage or damage. Issue is just wear, that’s life. Use and abuse them.

I made an appointment to see my established primary care DR for a week from this Friday. My heart is still fibrillating that is of uniformed concern of mine. I called the clinic back and scored an appointment this afternoon w/ his PA. The nurse taking my pulse noticed skipped beats. The PA listened to my heart and lungs and observed nothing. Course of treatment is for me to see a heart specialist that deals with arrhythmia. I will call tomorrow for appointment. I just need to see the right care giver w/ the owner’s manual to treat me. I am taking the natural supplements. Mike, the PA told me I am in the upper 10% of men my age in terms of overall health. Yeah, but I still hurt.

last night I connected w/ long time buddy Les and caught up. I slept in his drive.

Today now i am parked up on High Drive on South Hill Spokane, a green monster on the cliff side. Sit still and acquaintances will stop by.

Tomorrow is Coeur d’Alene visiting w/ Andy and Jen while taking in the local farmers’ market.

temps are chilly at night. Yesterday high winds kicked up much dust.

I scored Breaking Blue by Eagan who wrote The Big Burn and Worst Hard Times that I have read. This one deals w/ a murder of a cop in Spokane area back in 1935. Cops were crooked back then and i have reasons to suspect abuse is still occurring.

Off to visit w/ my former neighbors, Bill and Jennifer, who lived across the road from me.

Dentist appointment tomorrow which is what scheduled me to be here in the first place. I have dental insurance now. May my oral health be better than my knees and heart.

Thanks all for the birthday wishes.