Craig's Blog of Destiny

Yesterday I rode the Tour de Whatcom, a 105 mile bicycle ride around Whatcom County, WA.  You can check out my route on the route map here.   It was a great day for riding; here’s some of the good and the not so good:

Of course, I expected there to be great views, and there were.  Some of the best views are during the second half of the ride when we’re on the western part of the county and can look back to the east to Mt Baker. It is a great sight!

One of the unexpected pleasures came in the north eastern …

 
Stella, beloved bicycle and companion, passed away July 20, 2011.  She was born in the spring of 1976 in Loveland, Colorado.  She is survived by her owner, Craig Cottle, and her younger brother, Bike E.  She will be greatly missed.
Stella began life as a missionary bike, doing lots of miles in Loveland and Arvada, Colorado as well as Hastings, Nebraska.  She put on some miles in Alberta, Canada, as well as the Salt Lake Valley in Utah.  In 1996, at the age of 20, she logged many miles in and around Las Vegas, Henderson and Boulder City, Nevada in preparation for the STP (Seattle to Portland ride – just over 200 miles) which she completed in June of that year.  In her later life, she spent partial time doing a few miles around the Columbia River in …

The other day I had occasion to call AAA –kind of a funny story that Sam or I may have to tell sometime.  I keep my AAA card in my wallet, in the same wallet sleeve as my health insurance card.  As I was pulling the AAA card out, it struck me as poetic that the two cards are right there together – and yet I have such diverse feelings about them.

I appreciate my AAA card.  I use it, not necessarily that often, but I do use it.  Enough that calling them isn’t a unique experience, I’m comfortable calling them.  My AAA coverage costs me somewhere between $100 and $150 dollars a year for the family – maybe ten or eleven dollars a month.  I’ve used them because we’ve locked keys in the car, because we’ve had flat tires, or …

It’s time for the Superbowl Candy Pool!!!!  This will be the seventh year we’ve done the pool, last year we had 59 people participating, this year we’re expecting even more!  This year we’re adding a guess the score component so more candy is up for grabs!  In addition you can submit suggestions to name the new segment – even more candy!  See all the rules and info here:

Superbowl 2011

Get your entries in early (additional squares go to early responders!), either via email, messenger, comments on blogs, text or even phone calls, any way you can get word to us works!

I just reread Trevanian’s The Main, one of my favorite books.  There was I time that someone asked me to address books that have had a big impact on me, and this was one I wrote about.  I said:

“At the risk of showing my age I’ll bring up Trevanian, whose most popular work is probably The Eiger Sanction.  The Main is about a policeman in Montreal whose life revolves around his beat.  I was so able to identify with the character that it was some time before I came to realize that his life was tragic and that the loneliness that surrounded him was what made him tragic.  I realized that the love of those around us is what matters in the enrichment of our lives, not just our own life.”

To that, I would like to add:  The reason this is such a great book is because it’s such a …

Seems it gets earlier every year!  Here’s the 2010 edition of the Cottle Family Christmas Dance!  (Kris and I really rock it at the 20 second mark.)

This years special guest is one of J’Neil’s cats….not sure which one, but it’s one of them.

Lately I’ve come across some things that have me a little perplexed.  The first was this sign during one of my bike rides:

I’m not sure what to think about touring cemeteries.  At first I thought “eweuuu, that’s a bunch of dead people in there, why would I want to tour dead people, or worse, the place the dead people have settled into.”  But the more I thought about it I began to wonder if I was off – it could be very historically entertaining, I’m an antique fan and generally like old things, perhaps old burial plots could prove interesting…I don’t know, having a hard time coming down on one or the other side of this one, cool or creepy.
So it was in that mindset that I came across this picture:

 …

For a few years now I’ve wanted to like the television show Last Comic Standing.  I’ve been interested in the entertainment form (comedy) and follow some of the nationally known comedians, primarily through radio and television appearances.  However, Last Comic Standing just never was able to hook me, struggling through several years of format changes and weak participants.  Never the less, I thought this season might be the one I could get into, primarily because instead of going with a more amateur type approach they used veteran comedians.  In fact, of the ten finalists, I knew of and was quite familiar with four of them, Tommy Johnagin, Rachel Feinstein, Roy Wood Jr, and Laurie Kilmartin.  I actually thought this year the show would rock.  
So I …

There’s not much to say here….I met this guy during my bike ride today (you can see the top of my Bike E back there behind him), it’s called a Rhoades Car, a 4 wheel bicycle.  This particularly one is the four seat model, with reinforced tires and cool fenders.   And I want one.

Dateline – WASHINGTON (the state) – It’s that time of year – time to start thinking about FOOTBALL, and that means it’s time for the second season of the Greyhavens Fantasy Football League. After a successful first season, the league is once again poised to provide fun and excitement for everyone that wants to participate.

Oddly enough, the original founding teams are all that currently have registered for the 2010 season: Dunedain, The Hand of David and Snowmen.  The league is still hoping to hear from some of last years’ teams, particularly the Bruisers, the Bulldogs, The Burning Legion and last years’ regular season leader the Wurstens6, as well as some new managers that have expressed interest in joining the league.

There continues to be an emphasis on simplicity in the league, which will continue with the simplified draft which requires managers simply to rate players in order of preference – or …