I can feel it, can you?

There you have it.  As of July 6th, Dick gets to take five steps towards being a normal human again.  We're going back to work like usual'ish, which means no more week on/week off schedule.  I'll be a 9-5, five day a week schlub again.

I feel like I made the most of my time, and I feel terribly fortunate to the point of almost guilt in regards to how it all worked out for me.  So many lost so much.  I got to ride my bikes a whole lot.  I was able to tick off a lot of boxes in regards to house shit.  I don't think things could possibly be any more organized in my cupboards, closets, drawers, and wherever else we keep the things we supposedly need to exist.  

I even managed to fix the tick-tick-tick noise on The Fastest Bike in the World yesterday.  Good thing, as it's going back to being my daily driver, and I'm not looking forward to the Tell Tale Heart commutes every day.

I'll miss the random road trips with Bill Nye and the local rambles with all my local friends.  I saw parts of the city I'd never seen before following Jerry's wheel wherever it went.  So.  Many.  Bike.  Rides.  

I can't say it was all sunshine and roses.  There were days at work when everything just seemed pointless and hopeless.  Wandering around what was essentially nine abandoned floors in the tall tower was disheartening.  There were days staying at home when the weather was shit raining and cold, and I thought I was losing my mind.  I'm surprised how little TV I did watch, although I'll admit that during one bad batch of weather, and with The Pie being outta town, mebbe I did watch all three Expendables movies in one sitting.

On the bright side, I can finally take time off when I want to, as opposed to taking time off ONLY when I was already off.  I started looking at flights to Denver just the other day...

because the Breck Epic is back on the menu.  I can not wait to be up there breathing that rarified air in the high country again.  There's just something about escaping the swampy shit summer in Charlotte right at the point when I've had it up to here with sweat-drenched commutes... and then coming back with only a few weeks left before fall kicks in.  I love, love, love being at the Breck Epic... even when I'm pushing my bike up yet another mountainside.

I know it's not normal, and I hate the term "new normal," so mebbe I'll call it "my more normal."  I'm a creature of routine in many regards, and I'm ready to hang out with frands at Trans-Sylvania Epic this month and Breck Epic later this summer and wherever else I get to see them... and looking forward to weekend day trips to Pisgah... and waking up at relatively the same time every day... and seeing some of the people at work... and not staring out the window wondering what to do with all this free time... and feeling guilty about having so much free time... and feeling bad about feeling guilty...

Yeth, yeth, yeth...