I am looking for a new tool case...

I have always wanted a better organized bicycle mechanics' tool case. There are plenty of cool cases out there for electricians, HVAC service personnel, and computer geeks. I have found the web site for bicycle mechanics!! ProMechanics Website They went total geek-out and compiled a photo list of Pro-tour mechanics' tool cases here. All I can say is WOW!! I have been slowly adding to and building my own home mechanics tool set ( I wish these were my tools!!).

Photo courtesy of ProMechanics

I have been using a solid tackle/tool box I got at Wal-Mart awhile back.

It works well, it is compact, and fits almost all of the necessary tools, but it is not very well organized.
Finding the smaller tools or getting to the bigger tools usually means taking all of the tools out of the box to get to them. I really would like to have all of my tools neatly organized and easy to find like this picture here. I really like the winged organization pallets in this case!

Photo courtesy of ProMechanics

Pre-op good news!

I went to my pre-op Dr.s appt yesterday and they took a whole slew of X-rays. The good news is they have found some active healing in the rear portion of my tibia. If you imagine the gap of missing bone in my leg as a wedge with the largest gap in front of my tibia with the rear gap only .5 to 1 cm big. This is where the healing is taking place. This is good news because this is the one place the docs can't put bone graft material! I may just get through this after all!

I passed the first interview with SFD and I am scheduled to conduct my second oral board panel interview on Mondy the 26th at 9:30am. This interview consists of seven questions asked by three Seattle Fire Dept. Captains. You have twenty minutes to complete all answers and information does NOT carry over from question to question, so you end up repeating yourself quite abit. Then sometime around September 1st they will have the scores and rankings. One's score is a combined score of both interviews (50% each) and veterans preferance points if one has any. If I don't pass this interview I am out, but if I do pass then I will be ranked on the hiring list and the top 25% move on to the actual employment process. So I am not holding my breath especially because of my leg situation.

I rode Abiigael around in the bicycle sidecar trailer on Monday and she had a BLAST!!! She threw a fit when we got home because she did not want to get out or take her helmet off. I had to ride around the block to calm her down!! She also likes to ride her bike next to me while I am on the trainer in the house!! She is getting the hang of the whole pedaling thing there is alot of coordination involved!! Here is a video of the two of us:

I also picked up my custom track stem from David Wilson Industries last week. I am still trying to decide if I should get it chromed to match theoverall scheme of the bike or have it powdercoated to match the bone white of the frame???? If anyone knows of an inexpensive place that does chrome please drop a comment, the cheapest I have found it was $125 to $175 OUCH!!!!

A weekend away and being full time dad...

Well once again it has been way to long since I have posted. I am slowly coming towards the end of my TWELVE weeks of I.V. antibiotic home therapy, I have 3 weeks left. I have also scheduled my next surgery, a new bone graft, for the 6th of July! Hopefully, with lots of prayer, this will be the last surgery I need to get my leg healing and be done with this crap!! I went to see Erik Moen my physical therapist and he was very impressed at my progress considering I am only two months out from the surgery I had in April!! He insisted I start riding my bike to help generate good blood flow and get back into shape before going down again after surgery. I have been mostly riding on the trainer at home but I have ridden a few road miles, I have logged over a hundered miles in the past week plus. My parents are leaving Friday for a long awaited trip through the UK and Europe for three weeks. Happy 36th Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

Last weekend started with a Abigael's first slumber party. We hosted Abigael's best friend Maxine Friday night. Erin, Maxine's mom was moving into a new apartment and it would have been way to much to move and entertain Maxine at the same time. Everything went great until about an hour and a half after the kids were asleep and we had transfered Maxine into Abigael's room and into the pack-n-play. Maxine woke up and started calling for Brandon and then for her mommy. So we brought her to bed and everytime we went to move her she woke up and started to cry. So Maxine slept in bed with us. boy has it been awhile since we have had a kid in our bed. Two year old arms and legs flailing about in the night. But it all worked out and the girls had a blast and we got on the road around 9:30. Because Christie, Abigael, Zak the dog, and I went to a place just outside of Port Ludlow called Mats Mats Beach on the Olympic pennisula. Our friend, Sean Wellnitz, has a family cabin right on the bay inlet ("beach") and he invited us and a few other over for a weekend away from the city!! Sean's parents were there as well as his girlfriend Danielle, and Zack Wiles from Skyway Fire Dept. We helped do the opening season clean up of the property and got a huge bon fire started in the firepit. We BBQ'ed hamburgers, hotdogs, steak, brats and shrimp and ate like kings!! The beer flowed and we all sat around the fire and talked into the night. The Lockwood family stayed in the bunk house which was heated by a small pot belly wood stove, nice and toasty!! The next day we made breakfast and we went to the beach. We let Abigael play with baby crabs and starfish and then left about 11:30am. Zack and I rode to the ferry terminal about 20 miles along some of the most beautiful scenery and weather in the state!!

Monday morning Christie flew down to Los Angeles to attend some think tank meeting for work. Which left Abigael and I to fend for ourselves... Just kidding we have had a blast hanging out together she went to work with me on Monday for a couple hours and took a great nap in the afternoon. Abigael is right now sitting in her little pink baby stroller watching "Diego". Christie will be coming back Wed. morning and will be home after work on Wed. We eat together and play playdough. After her bath last night she curled up with me for her evening whined down and I put her to bed with no problems...