Torn

Under the original plan, I should have been asleep by now. However, for the second year in a row there's a tropical storm passing by the area as our bikes are supposed to be heading towards P-town. This year, though, we have a rain date scheduled - in the event of rain Saturday the event is supposed to be held Sunday.

The problem seems to be logistics, though. If it were me running the ride, it would be a no-brainer - cancel Saturday and ride Sunday. Simple enough. But there's also a whole bunch of festivities planned for Provincetown Saturday night and Sunday morning, plus many of the riders have rooms rented for the night out there. So they've come up with a mediocre solution: unless the weather is truly horrid, they plan to ride anyway in the morning, and just ride to the foot of the Cape (about 60 miles), then bus out to Provincetown and have the festivities on schedule. If the weather is still bad in the morning, that will be cancelled and replaced with a ride from Provincetown back to Bourne (68 miles) on Sunday morning at 11. I don't like it when people start tinkering with contingency plans. If it's raining Saturday you ride Sunday. Period. That's why you call it a "rain date".

I don't think it's especially safe or smart to try riding in marginal conditions, and since Jane has to work regardless of whether I go or not, we need a babysitter if I go. If I go and the ride is cancelled until Sunday, then we still have a babysitter all day Saturday. I'm not planning on overnighting at any point, so I'm not going to gain any benefit by going to P-town to wait for Sunday.

So here's the call I made: I'm not riding tomorrow (as mentioned above) no matter what happens with the weather. If the ride is cancelled tomorrow, I will go out to Provincetown on the first Sunday morning ferry and ride back. If the ride isn't cancelled tomorrow, I just won't go. AIDS education, treatment, and prevention is a cause that is important to me, but my family comes first.

Besides that, it's been a heck of a busy week for me. I put in a full week at Adlife, took care of a few of my other customers during the week as well, and filled up my calendar for next week. Business is very good right now, and I'm very grateful for it.

When Gabe Kapler went down with his Achilles' injury a couple of nights ago, I mentally gave up on 2005 for the Sox. So I'm not bugged too much by their problems right now. There's just too many people hurt and just plain sub-par on that team for them to win another title, I think, even if they hold off the Yankees (who are winning with smoke and mirrors right now). 2005 is playing with house money right now, anyways. I think the likeliest outcome is that the Sox hold on to win the East, and go down in the ALCS.

Next year should be better regardless of what happens in the next few weeks - we will likely have a fully healed Schilling back, a (hopefully) re-signed Damon, and a healthy Miller (who has showed signs of getting his stuff back). The sticking point is Keith Foulke - part of me thinks that he basically used up his body last year and then used up his mind this year. And we're on the hook for two more years with him as well (or one and a buyout).