Brake, Braking, Broke, Broken, Brokened?

Some days you just begin to wonder...what the heck is going on? Or more like...where did all my luck go? Sometimes it is a series of events that leads you to this conclusion when it seems like nothing is going your way. Well things are going my way so don't worry about me, but it seems to be that "mechanical" things aren't going my way as of late.

I guess it all started at the end of April. I let my friend borrow my "watch" during a swim session (watch being a relative term for "running computer") that tells you in the instructions, as does any Polar Watch, not to press the buttons underwater even though the watch is waterproof. Well, he did, and the watch had a ton of water in it after he gave it back to me. I opened it up and let it dry out and it seemed okay after a day or so, no harm no foul. Next swim session I jump in and after the first lap...you guessed it...water in the watch...only this time the display started going haywire and things just didn't seem to be working right. I guess a later side effect is that slowly the GPS sensor started not being able to be recognized by the watch and the foot pod started to do the same after I switched them out....time to send it back to Polar I guess.

Then, one day in early May I come home on a rather relatively warm day and stick my key in the deadbolt at home and turn the key.....SNAP! The key breaks off in the deadbolt (The deadbolt is a notoriously sticky issue between Kirsten and I since the door is old and you have to push it or pull it hard to get the deadbolt engaged and is tough to open with the key which is probably why the key broke). Luckily it left enough sticking out that I could continue to open it and the door handle lock with a pair of pliers, which a contractor working next door was happy to loan me.

On to the next mechanical problem....I drop off my bike to the only shop I really trust to get a tune up and have them reinstall the bottom bracket because of a creaking while I am riding. Well I get it back right before the wedding only to have my power meter not working anymore. I bring it back and they try to fix it but it reacts sporadically to their efforts and I end up having to warranty the power meter...who knows how long that is going to take!

Then, as those of you reading this post know, I crashed or fell on my tri bike last Thursday (I am okay, just a slow but hard fall with no damage besides a little hip bruise.)....then I hit a pothole so hard that my bike virtually exploded on Saturday, so now I need to bring THAT bike in to get an overhaul and have them give it a once over to make sure there was no structural damage to the wheels or frame (Not to mention after the Thurs fall there was a ticking in my pedal stroke/bottom bracket the ENTIRE 100 mile ride that needs to get fixed!

An finally, Kirsten and I are coming home from a great 2700 yard swim last night (which was rediculously hard when you have to do 200 as 40's easy, sprint, easy sprint, easy....ugghhh) and we get home, I put my key (a copied key we had sets of) into the deadbolt and....SNAP!!!! $)&$)*&)@#(*&$)@(#*&$)(@*#&$)(@*&#)($*&@)($*&@)#$&@# ANOTHER KEY!!! What the heck is going on! That pretty much ended the only good sets of keys we had and since the best key to make copies of broke three paragraphs up and Kirsten's key doesn't make working copies...we were left with only her key to lock and unlock the front door.

Normally with all of this going on I would go out and buy a new Running Computer, or Power Meter, or Bike (or new parts for the bike) but these options don't fall into my/our financial plans, and frankly isn't a very judicious allocation of money ;)

So I did do the one thing that would make me feel satisfied with the situation....I bought a new deadbolt and doorknob for our front door. It was cheaper than the other options and allows me at the same time to give the big middle finger to our current deadbolt set. Vindication always feels good...

So then my Road Bike was supposed to be ready today (after the shop sent off the powermeter and replaced the Bottom Bracket with my old Dura Ace set that I had before I got the power meter). They told me on Friday that they would try to get it ready this weekend but to call on Tuesday if they didn't contact me. I called this morning and got the run around....frankly I am getting sick of Bike Shops and their "games". I finally called back this afternoon to the reply of "We will try to squeeze it in tonight and will give you a call when it is ready..." yeah right...thanks for nothing guys. So now I am without TWO bikes...which is precisely why I got TWO bikes so that if one was down I would have the other one to ride...the mechanical gods must be conspiring against me.

How could so much mechanical stuff go wrong in just over a month!? So I guess I get to concentrate on swimming and running sans data for another month or so...oh well...complaining about it won't solve anything so I guess I will do as Tyler tells me to....SUCK IT UP!