Not in my backyard...

From Monday's SF Chronicle:
" Emotions are running high in usually placid Piedmont over where hundreds of children should attend classes while an elementary school undergoes seismic reconstruction.
When school administrators proposed busing kids a few miles down the hill, out of the tony enclave and into Emeryville, you'd have thought they had committed treason.
A group of "concerned Piedmont parents" took out a half-page ad in the town paper railing against the move and noting that 24 registered sex offenders live within a mile of the Emeryville school.
"If a Piedmont student or teacher is assaulted (or worse) at the Emeryville campus and the Piedmont School District is sued...what additional liability does the school's legal counsel thing that Piedmont's taxpayers would bear?" the ad in the Piedmont Post asked."

As a public school teacher myself, nothing gets my blood boiling more than the assumption that safety issues are more important for your own kids, than other families children. If the Emeryville schools aren't safe enough for Piedmont kids, then why aren't Piedmont parents up in arms about the Emeryville kids who have no choice but to attend these schools?

Chew on that one.

near the close of my 2nd trimester

25 = number of weeks pregnant


30 = number of pounds gained


1= number of times I fell while cross country skiing last weekend and wondered if a fall on icy snow was a very good idea


1= number of times I've woken up in the morning with a pulled muscle as the result of a midnight charlie-horses


4=number of east bay pregnant bike racers i currently have to bike with

1,713= number of miles i've biked with our little Buddah

There's A Buzz In The Air...

A couple of us here are getting pretty excited about the upcoming weekend. We're headed up the hill to celebrate a friends 40th and get in a little snow time. We're happy for the old man but the birthday's not what's causing the buzz (sorry C). Little M is excited because we're bringing her best friend and she can't believe she gets to spend the whole weekend with her. "It's like a three day sleepover" she exclaimed on the way home from school today.


I'm jazzed because I get to strap on the boards for the first time in over two years. Long time readers know I like to skate. Before winter training for cycling it's what I did most weekends in the season of short days (in fact I have as many pairs of XC skis as I do bikes). I learned to ski late in life and enjoy coasting down hill now and then but I didn't really get the ski bug until I started skating. In my mind it's the perfect combination of quiet snowy solitude and exercise. You can noodle along and enjoy the evergreens if you're feeling pensive. On the other hand, you can shift it in gear sending your heart rate through the top of your head and searing your legs and lungs while you grind up a hill. Stepping over the top you tuck and run, blasting down the hill and swooping around corners at speeds you're pretty sure aren't safe (kinda like cycling now that you mention it). Over the years the trudge up the hill starts to wear on you and when Little M started school we were stuck in traffic with all the other snow nuts. So I opted for the convenience of triathlon and cycling but I still love to skate and now I can hardly wait.

I Likes me Some Family Dinner Time

Is it just me, or did 2009 welcome in the year of the door-to-door solicitor?


We have LITERALLY had someone ring our doorbell every night this week between the hours of 6:00-7:00, asking for a donation to their cause: Peace Action Group; Young Democrats; students trying to raise money for college by selling magazines. It's all for a good cause, but after giving 8+ hours a day to molding 13-year-old mathematical minds of our angelic Berkeley youth, I just don't feel like I need to give after-hours as well. I give in a lot of ways, both financially and of my time. But damned if I'll give my time or money at 6:30pm in the middle of dinner.


EVERY NIGHT? I'm not sure how much longer I can take this. So, if you'd like to ask for my time or money, I'm all ears, but don't mess with my dinner, please.

Boys on Bikes

The Metromint Men's team held their annual camp this weekend. Eighteen of us made the trek down to a quiet little region of the state near the tiny town (intersection really) of Lockwood. The roads were great; quiet, smooth and beautiful. On Day 1 we put in some big miles with lots of climbing during a trek through Fort Hunter Liggett out to the coast and back. Day 2 was a flatter tour southeast of Paso Robles with the normal boy shenanigans. The weather was cool but clear (yes that's frost on my saddle).

This was my first Men’s Camp and it was a blast! I’m looking forward to All Team Camp in a few weeks.

I still have some work to do before I’m on form but the boys in dots are going to have some weapons this year…brace yourselves ;).