"Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and, instead of bleeding, he sings." - Ed Gardner

The last time I was on my bike: Saturday morning, June 2. I got 30 yards down the street and ended up in the hospital. Over three months later I have a stent, a pacemaker, and a pile of pills to take morning and evening. But yesterday's appointment with the cardiologist included permission to return to riding so today I got back on that horse and rode off into the sunset. OK, it was mid-morning, the sun had already heated things up to 90 degrees, and I was on a bike, but that counts as a victory. What doesn't count as a victory is the struggle it was to do 10 miles. Oh my. No amount of work on the exercise bike at the gym serves as an equivalent to the real thing.
Tomorrow's ride will be worse, but there WILL be a ride tomorrow.

I did indeed think about the carb/choke issues in the middle of the night. I've just about decided the problem is a bad choke spring. That comes from going back out to the garage early this morning and taking the choke apart - again - to find everything just like the manual says it should be. But the linkage is clearly not working properly. If the spring has somehow been buggered up no amount of adjustment would fix it. And if you saw the way somebody mutilated the choke cover you'd understand why I think just maybe it's not my fault.
I have a call in to Desert Valley Auto Parts just a few miles from here - they of Velocity TV channel fame - for a used Holley #1931. If they have one I'll pay almost any reasonable price and do a swap of the choke mechanism. I'll also be able to check my linkage assembly against theirs. (He didn't sound optimistic he'd find one.)

One of my friends/former students/fellow blogger posted an entry a couple of days ago in which she apologized for a toilet theme that appeared over two days of entries. Then last night my brother, who is doing some remodeling on their house in Spokane, mentioned they're looking into getting low-volume toilets to replace their old fixtures which use several gallons per flush. Included in that email was a link to this site. The video at the top center of the page that tests toilet efficiency is not for those with delicate sensitivities, but based on the laughter in the background his studio audience found it hilarious (so did I).

His email also included this German video. Sometimes language doesn't matter. I was in tears after the last part.

Oops

I may set a personal record for an early bedtime. Not since I was six....
OK, at our house it was this early when I was sixteen but that's not something anyone needs to know.
And I'm beat from a double; bike ride in the a.m. and the gym in the afternoon. But I've got a lot of ground to make up after a summer lost to health issues and two-a-days are the only way to get it done. Besides, the house is so quiet with Pam gone....