Back at work and it is 2008. No new resolutions from me.

New Years eve was good for seeing friends. I hung out in smoky bars a little too long and my eyes suffered, but walking to the car afterwards in the cool air was good for easing the irritation. I haven't been in smoky bars much lately, so I am just not conditioned for it. It was a very laid back night which did not include much beer intake. At least a cab wasn't necessary to get home safely.

Monday, I made it out to the trails at Hamilton Creek for a loop, but didn't quite make it. I tried but it was just too muddy. It was only in the lower areas and the dips in the trail, but some of the trail is so new and rolling that there are numerous sections like that. So there tended to be mud everywhere. I tried rode about halfway around a full loop before I was convinced that it was, in fact, too wet throughout the whole area to be on the trail without causing trail harm. I especially don't like riding trails that have been recently built. Often those areas will be fixed to provide adequate run-off and just haven't been gotten to yet. Who knows. So, with muddy tires, I left the trail and headed down the closed park road on the advanced trail side of things. I proceeded to do a rolling bunny hop with the intention of knocking the mud off of my tires as much as possible. When I landed back on my wheels, there was a nice (or not so nice) clank. I had gotten a flat as I was leaving a new section of trail. I considered walking back to the car, but decided since it was plenty light and I had time that had been slated for more riding, I stopped and changed my flat. I ended up just patching my tube. Hoping it holds, but my tire felt soft yesterday when I checked it. So may have to change another flat before the weekend. Hope it's not the tires or it could be a long day on Saturday for me at Snake Creek.

Last night I saw the movie "Margot at the Wedding" at the Belcourt theatre. It was a bit random and thought it was supposed to be funny, but it was a pretty random movie. A little disturbing, really. In the movie, Nicole Kidman plays a character that appears to be bi-polar schizophrenic or something. It was bizarre. She was pretty horrible to everyone she was close to. One of those movies that was well done and I am glad I saw but definitely not a feel-good movie and not one I care to see again.

Before the movie, went to get a beer at Boscos (the place for beer lovers). I have only been there a couple of times before. They have this deal where between 4 and 5:30 you get a ticket with every beer you order. The tickets are good for a drawing that day at 5:30. The person who wins the drawing gets to tap that day's cask conditioned ale and receives the first pint from that keg along with getting to keep the glass. Additionally, the winner is entered into an annual drawing for a free trip to the great american beer festival in Colorado, which would be sweet. So I may just have to pay a few more visits to Boscos in the coming weeks, months, etc....

Cheers....