It takes a pillage to raze a village.

The catcher seems not to know why the pitcher didn't throw that fastball she called for. The umpire is discovering she did.

Just for a giggle:
Sleeping piglets

I had my successes today, in measure. Started with a 32-mile ride first thing this morning at a steady but relaxed pace. I'm experimenting with my intake on these longer rides. The energy gels like Gu get a little pricey, so Pam makes me a PB&J on cheap white bread. I stop about every 15 miles and eat half. It only takes me a minute or so but the break and the energy boost seems to make a significant difference. I think I'm going to try adding some GORP (good ol' raisins and peanuts) as my distances increase.

When I got home I decided to make work of the carb issue. I did some reading on the classic VW forum, posted a message, and ended up with nothing but dire warnings about either of the two brands of repro carbs. But a couple of guys recommended I contact one of the forum members who is a carb guru and rebuilds salvaged originals and decent repros. Long story short, we exchanged messages, then a phone call.
This afternoon I mailed him my carb so he can scavenge whatever screws and springs he can put to use. As soon as he has that and the $135 I also tucked in the box he'll send me a freshly rebuilt and bench tested carb. Should be here in about 10 days. The great thing is that I'm saving $40 over what I would have ordered from one of the online retailers and getting a guaranteed unit from a guy with a very solid rep. Well worth the few extra days I'll wait.
(I don't even want to think about the possibility that this doesn't fix the problem.)

I'm going back to last week's job house to do a few more tasks. She wants another shelf put up in the laundry room, the sliding door handle needs to be replaced and there's a busted sprinkler line out in the back yard. That's the task that will have me up and out the door early. This is not the time of year to be digging up water lines anything much after 10 a.m.

I've been going back to the pool, working on the Total Immersion method. I told Pam when I got back this afternoon that it's really difficult to maintain any self esteem when I'm this bad at something. I keep telling myself that a breakthrough is right around the corner but I'm not sure how long I can keep up this self-deception.

Tomorrow afternoon I'm going over to the place that will do the duplication on the curriculum. By this time next week I should have 100 copies of the two disks (their minimum order). But I got a call this afternoon from someone at my home church who thinks this won't be nearly enough for the orders she's heard about. That would be terrific! And because this firm has a 5-day turnaround it shouldn't pose a problem for people who want disks.

What would you think of the notion that most of the movies from the 40's and 50's were attempts to promote a Marxist ideology? I read that recently from a very highly respected scholar who was, in the early 60's, a member of the Communist party and a film critic. He points out that the Westerns were especially transparent. The common plots involve a rich baron who, in an effort to amass more wealth, oppresses poor townfolk. A hero, or group of heroes lead the townfolk in an uprising against the baron, and despite overwhelming odds they prevail.
Pale Rider is on AMC tonight.