The Purple Goat

The Blackspire update

2010-05-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

Blackspire - cheaper and more durable as XTR at the same weight. Whats not to love??

Healthy Raspberry Scones

2010-02-10T15:18:00.000-08:00

I don't bake much, that is mostly left to Amy. Here the recipe

Raspberry Scones

Makes 8

Ingredients
2 cups whole spelt flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup coconut oil, plus more for brushing (canola works too)
1/3 cup agave nectar, plus more for brushing
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup hot water
1 cup fresh raspberries (blue berries and black berries work too)

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the oil, agave nectar, and vanilla and stir together until a thick, slightly dry batter is formed. Pour the hot water into the batter and mix. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the raspberries just until they are marbled throughout the batter.

3. For each scone, scoop 1?3 cup batter onto the prepared baking sheet. Space the scoops 1 inch apart to allow them to spread. Lightly brush the tops with the oil. Bake the scones on the center rack for 14 minutes, rotating the sheet 180degrees after 7 minutes. The finished scones will be golden and slightly firm. Remove from the oven and brush with agave nectar.

4. Let the scones stand on the sheet for 15 minutes, then carefully slide a spatula under each and transfer it to a wire rack and cool completely. Store the scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Merry Christmas to Us

2010-01-08T19:59:00.000-08:00

Amy and I got our Christmas present delivered and installed today.

I know ya'll are envious!!

My New Apron

2009-12-10T19:33:00.000-08:00

Neat little stocking stuffer Amy found.

Look what I got tricked into buying at the Bike Fed swap meet

2009-12-09T15:32:00.000-08:00

Waterford RS 14

Get yer Transplant On

2009-12-02T08:53:00.001-08:00

OK one more try at this, seems I found a way to delete entire blog posts with out even trying.

So back to the transplant story. On Nov 8th - yes the very next day - the phone rang again. At 0500 UW Madison caled again. They had anohter set of organs. Now keep in mnd that I got the fist call 15 days after getting on the transplant list. Thats pretty quick. I knew that I wasthe number one candidate in the Ablood group. So when I got sent home I was not too disapointed because I had not been waiting al that long. I figure another couple of weeks I might get caled again. I never expected les than 24 hours.

We repeated the fire drill we learned on Saturday morning - finding someone to watch Will - we never unpacked so we were ready to go - we called the gang of friends and family again - we drop at top leagl speed+ to Madison.

Once we got there we started thepre op prcedures again. I felt a differance right away, everything seemed to be hapening with a greater sense of urgency. They insert 2 IV lines, drew yet more blood, made certain I was "empty", had me shower with special soap to wash my belly,and met with a parade of Doctors and Nurses. I actualy had the same Nurse assigned as the day before.

We arrived at UW Hostipal around 8am and around 1230 I was wheeled down to the Pre Op room as opposed to being in my assigned room. Last I remeber here is that they were going to give me something for the anxiety - Well it knocked me out. Amy was not ready for this. Like me she thought that it would just take the edge off. Shortly after that I was wheeled into to surgery. Game On!!

The surgery took just over 5 hours. The team called Amy with regular updates. They installed the kidney first. They calad Amy and let her know that as soon as it was hooked up it started producing pee. No Lazy kidney here! Next was the pancreas. Again as soon as it was hooked up it started working.

A whole lot has happened

2009-11-25T08:04:00.000-08:00

So as you all already know I am not the most prolific blogger. A lot has happened since my last update. Namely I got my transplant!! I'll step you through it. The whole experience has been pretty amazing.

The process started Saturday Morning November 7th. The phone rang at 530am. It was the on call transplant nurse at UW Madison Health services. She said that they had some organs and that my name came up on the top of the list. Was I interested? Well duh...She explained that I needed to find my way there ASAP to get ready. SO having nothing packed Amy and I started making calls to get Will taken care of. Amy's brother Dan came over right away for the first shift of Will watching. Her folks were to arrive a little later and take him for a day or two after that. SO we pack and off to Madison we go. Along the way we are busy call friends and family with the news.

Once at the hospital we get checked in and shown to my room. The room is pretty tiny but it will have to do. The team starts getting me prepped. blood work, BP, IVs, gowns etc... The explain the events that will lead up to the actual surgery. Somewhere in the middle of this Amy who has not yet had breakfast or lunch ducks out to find the cafeteria and grab a bite. It is at this moment one of the doc pops in and tells me that itm is Game Off. Seems the donor pancreas is not viable.

The donor had suffered massive head trauma and was determined to be brain dead. After the family says their goodbyes the donor is taken off life support. The expectation is that life ceases and the procurement process begins. This did not happen in a timely fashion. After 30 minutes off life support the pancreas is no longer viable. This is what happened. This donors kidneys however were still used so there were still 2 kidney transplants that day. For me it was a false alarm.

So they sent us home. On the way home we re-call everyone we called on the way to pass on the update. We were disappointed but since I had only been on the list for 2 weeks we were pretty certain that the next wait would not be too long.

Playin' Bikes in Blue

2009-10-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

I journeyed up to good old West Bend to Ride bikes with my ol' biking buddy Steve. We hit Glacial Blue Hills and rode some laps. Since I've moved to 'Tosa I haven't taken the opportunity to ride the WB trails. I nearly forgot how nice they are.

Cool Pic Taken out on the trail

Old Biking Buddy Steve

Yet More Dialysis

2009-10-28T15:50:00.000-07:00

So that catheter is giving us grief again today. The tech was here constantly for the for 45 minutes or so. I am finally running at a 250 blood pump speed and am running with fewer alarms. However with a speed that low I am not getting good dialysis. With my old catheter I was in the 500 range.

We just had to turn the fluid extraction off, my calves are starting to cramp. Part of dialysis is excess fluid removal. Since my kidneys are at pretty low function I tend to turn much of what I drink into excess weight (retained fluid) the machine extracts it during the the dialysis process and it seems I have reached my limit. We did take of 2.5 liters of the planned 2.9 so I will not drown from he inside.

Updates

2009-10-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

Transplant

I sent in all my paperwork to UW Madison Health system. It was reviewed quickly and Marlyn (the KP transplant coordinator) we going to get me listed ASAP. I have not received a conformation yet but expect it any day. She told me that they have done 6 KP transplants since the end of August. I am the top of the list for the A blood group. I am hopeful that I will get the call soon.

More details as I know them.

Dialysis

My catheter is not working all that well. It alarms quite often during the dialysis. Some days have been better then others. Last week it ran so poorly they have to end the treatment early as the dializer was clotting off. It becomes circular, the catheter stops the blood flow - the when the blood flow stops it clots - when it clots too much the machine stiops and the blood clots more. And so on and so on.....Today is runs OKish. not a ton of alarms and they can run the blood pump a little faster than they could before. Faster blood pump equals better dialysis.

Will

Is still cute as hell. See photo below. Will is always an entertaining little dude.

Officially on the list

2009-10-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

October 12 2009
I am officially on the list to receive a kidney / pancreas transplant. After much discussion on the merits of live donor transplant vs. getting my new organs from a cadaver. It boiled down to one surgery vs two, one course of anti rejection drugs vs two.

Of course the down side is that I am on dialysis until my name pops up for the next available A blood group set of organs. So I wait.

Some numbers...
At Froedert, I am the only one on the list for A blood group organs. The last recipient was on the list for 5 months.
At UW Madison where I am working to get on the list at the moment I also be at the top of the A blood group list. The last recipient was listed for 6 days prior to transplant.

I can wait that long. We will review where we are if after about 6 months nothing happens.

In this game, being of blood group A is a bonus.
Percentages of the population by blood groups
O - 47%
A - 40%
B - 9%
AB - 4%

Whilest A is a smaller number than O, the wait time is significantly shorter then O. The wait times for O blood groups are measured in years and the live donor would be the best options.

I will keep you all posted. Dialysis is nearly done so I am saving this for you all to read.

Fall Project Day

2009-10-13T13:18:00.001-07:00

It was time to replace the screens with the winders'. After I accomplished this I went for a nice fall bike ride

Friday Afternoon Bike Ride

2009-10-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

Somehow I avaoided the rain. Got about an hour in.

Dailysis was a failure again today. I gave up after about 90 minutes. Pressure alarm aafter pressure alarm. I will be going in tomorrow morning to try get my catheter sorted out. If we can't I may need to get a new one installed.

Well

2009-09-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

I have been negligent in my blogging. I want to keep this thing update and really have no excuse since I am getting in a chair for hours a day....

A few updates

Dialysis
I have started doing dialysis at home. My machine showed up last Friday. There have been some bumps in the road. I hope the smooth out soon as a treatment that should take 2 hours is taking 3.5 - 4 hours. Pics to follow.

Transplant
Amy and I went to visit with the fine folks in Madison last Thursday, we arrived in a timely manner only to learn that the appoint was actually on Friday. Oopps.... As penance I had to spent the afternoon shopping with Amy. Not that I dont enjoy spending time with Amy, I just don't care for shopping. We stayed in Mad Town and had diner with bother Matt and his SO Julie.

So I ventured back to Mad Town on Friday. What I learned.
1. Madison Transplants quickly. If I get on the list I will be the only on the list for a Kidney / Pancreas transplant for Blood type A
2. UW Madison is out of network - this means it would be very expensive
3. UW Madison is in Madison. There are many follow ups and possibly several hospitalisations along the way. The distance makes it hrder for Will care and family visits.

So what do do...what to do...

Madison can transplant faster (probably but statistically speaking is likely faster)
Froedert is closer in network but for a KP transplant the list is longer

We are also looking at a live donor (my brother Matt is leading that pack) in Milwaukee with a pancreas transplant to follow. More on that to follow

I am ready to come ff the machine so I will do an update again the next couple of days.

Expierance the Differance

2009-08-14T06:11:00.000-07:00

I have for the past week been trying out a different dialysis. Click HERE to see the machine. This is a home dialysis machine. If I choose to move forward I could be trained to operate this guy and have it at my home. I would then dialyzes 6 days a week at home for a shorter period of time (around 2 hours) rather than 3 times a week for 4 hours. I would also be able to do on my schedule. So if all goes well in a couple of weeks I will be training on care and feeding of this machine and then be doing dialysis at home.

They have me doing a little bit of my own connection now. It is kinda' freaky hooking your self up and watching your own blood flowing into the machine. Even freakier (is that even a word) is the manipulation of syringes full of my own blood. I am sure that with time I will get used to it but I am not quite there yet.

News on the transplant front:

I have an appointment for a cardiac consult in a couple of weeks. I guess they need to consult before they cath me.

I called Madison and after several conversation I am meeting with them in late September. This is the pre-listing meeting. They say the wait is shorter there I guess we'll see.

My donors are going through the paces to get tested. They have completed the paper work and are awaiting further instruction.

Will Stuff

We think Will may be some food allergies, We over the Independence Day holiday he turned red and blotchy. So we are getting him tested for allergies. Not sure if this is the good news or not but they don't do the scratch test any more. They do blood tests. So on Monday Amy to Will to the clinic to get a blood draw. After 2 pokes the draw was unsuccessful. He had 2 bandages and was quite unhappy after the experience. Thursday I took him to a different clinic across from Children's Hospital. As soon as they put the tourniquet on he know hat was next Afer olne unsuccessful poke theu were finally able to get the blood drawn. Ill let you know the results.

I am not on the list.......yet

2009-08-07T16:06:00.000-07:00

Well the committee met on Monday. I learned on Wednesday that I am not on the list yet. The decision o the committee was that I will need to undergo a cardiac catheterisation prior to getting on the list. Whilst my last stress test was good and showed nothing of interest the committee feels that I need this procedure "just to be sure" that there are no hidden heartr goblins. I asked if going for a hard mountain bike ride wouldn't give the same results. Nope they still want to see the pics.

Soooo in the next week or two I will be going in for a look see of the inside of my heart. I want to see ifin' they will give me the pics to post!

The Transplant Team

2009-07-31T10:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Amy and I met with the transplant team. We have the coordinator, my newest best friend, the Surgeon, the Ca$hola Lady (these things are stupid expensive) a social worker, the dietitian and some lady that kept popping in with papers.

So where are we in this process? After meeting with all of the above it looks like I am good to go for getting on the list. But its not that easy. The team I met with presents my case to the greater transplant committee. They decide. Based on conversations the most likely additional thing I may need to do is a cardiac catheterisation. Ill know on Monday for sure.

So I get on the list for a kidney and pancreas. While I am waiting for the organ fairy those who have offered to be live donors are getting to tested to see if they match. Until I know if any one is a match I don't really need to decide much. If there is a match then I need to decide whether to go with a live donor kidney or wait for the kidney and pancreas to arrive.

Live donor organ tend to last longer than cadaver organs, but then that 2 surguries to install them. Also getting a live done kidney can cause the with for a pancreas to lenghten. But according to the surgeon 85% of the quality of live comes from the kidney. However imagine NO MORE DIABETES.....As the Doc pointed out, there is no wrong decision here. However it works out will better then dialysis.

Ill keep you all posted to any new developments.

mmg

Update

2009-07-24T15:27:00.001-07:00

Some news Items

Work- The doc recommends one more week of down time. So I should be headin' back to work on or about August 3. Hope that it "works".

Dialysis- Amy and I participated in a Dailysis options program earlier this week. I am going to investigate at home hemodialysis. Would mean 2 - 2.5 hours 5 - 6 days a week. I would have a smaller machine at my home. Looks like this may be the BBD (bigger better deal). I will checkout the program in a couple of weeks.

Transplant - Amy and I meet with the transplant team on Thursday July 30 we will get the real deal from the folks at Froedert. Stuff that I have learned so far. It seems that the kidney AND pancreas transplant is the way to go. Imagine NO MORE DIABETES!! This is a reality. The transplant list is also shorter for 2 organs than it is for one. I have been told it is 9 - 18 months once on the list. If I go this way I am better to NOT get a kidney from living donor. It makes the match for the pancreas that much harder. More on this in a week.

Will - is still cute as ever, He will be one in a week. How time flies. Seems like just weeks ago I was being handed a tiny newborn. He is now walking, or shall I say toddling. He also has a few words now. He says Hi, Uh Oh, and All Done. Sometimes he says these over and over. Now for the cute pic of the week.

Off to Crusty Butt Colorado

2009-07-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

plus

Josh plus Tina plus Justin. Soon to be legally one big happy family!

Transplant stuff
Amy and went to transplant class this week. Covered the basics of what happens from a reciepient and donor point of view. At the moment it look like I am a good candidate however Ill bet there are alo many others. Currently there are 77000 folks looking for a kidney and last year nationwide about 16000 tansplants performed. And 1/2 of those were from live donors.

Mark and his Friend

2009-07-13T15:23:00.000-07:00

Me and my friend. We spend about 4 hours a day 3 days a week togather. I expect that we will do so for quite some time.

My Newest Friend

2009-07-10T15:40:00.000-07:00

The Fresenius 2008K Hemo dialysis Machine

Read more about it athe the companies site!

http://www.fmcna.com/hemodialysis.html

I'm baaaack - Dailysis Day 19

2009-07-08T14:53:00.000-07:00

Ok so I haven't blogged in a while. Actually it's been nearly a year. Being a new dad takes most of my free time. I still get to do some stuff that I did before just not as often. Not that I am complaining you see. Being Will's dad is about the best thing that I can think of. Next to being Amy's partner. Nope not married yet. Coming soon!

Events lately have given me reason to pick up the digital pen again. Not sure if anyone will be reading these. Ifin' you do let me know.

As the title of this blog suggests I have started dialysis...@ days after father days I called the doc at the behest of Amy. Best is not really a strong enough word really, She nagged cried and sent pics of Will. I was not doing all that well. To say I was a tad under the weather is an understatement. I was often nauseous, getting nightly legs cramps that would have sitting bolt upright and howling; I was tired, dragged out and just plain "off my game...". So finally I relented and went to see the doc.

The doc gave several possible diagnosis, 1 Most likely an electrolyte imbalance, 2. Some type of kidney issue, and 3. A reaction to the antibiotic I have been taking for an ear infection (not likely but possible). Confirmation would be by giving them several tubes of blood for testing.

About 15 minutes of arriving home the docs office called, they could not wait for my doc to get in the mooring. The on call doc called with the results. I was in renal failure. I nearly threw up. As a diabetic for 35 years this is not an uprising diagnosis. Unexpected but not surprising.

The on call doc was quite insistent that I immediately get myself to the nearest hospital. I told him that I live but minutes from Frodert, He told me to, and that this was better than being in WB since St Joes did not have dialysis available in house.

I told Amy all of this. Within minutes she had me and Will in the car. She had called to get someone to watch will (thanks Dan!!). Now if you are going to get checked in for kidney issues Froedert is the place to be. The e=room staff took some more blood to confirm the diagnoses, they gave me stuff to help the symptoms, they tested and rested to validate the tests. It seemed that they were constantly taking more blood for several hours. The finally got me situated in the transplant floor at 200am.

I was hospitalized until the following Sunday. During that time I had a permcath insalled in my right shoulder. This is where I get hooked up to the dialysis machine. In the hospital they hooked mar up 4 times.

Dialysis is an exercise in boredom. You get to sit in a chair for (in my case) up to 3.5 hours. I have read quite a few magazines, watched a bit of TV. I got myself a new laptop and hope to make the time more productive.

Since my released from captivity I have a 3 times a week schedule that has settled in on MWF at 245. I hope to update this blog regularly during this time. I will keep you posted with how things are going; more detail on stuff that got m here, assorted randomness that occurs to and is of interest to me.

To answer the question most often asked. "How ya' doing...?" I am doing very well. I am feeling well; one of the side effects of dialysis is a nagging tiredness. That is getting better as well. I am getting more energy every day.

Feel free to give me a call. Please leave feedback with anything that that you want to know, or just let me know that you are checking in.

Thanks

mmg 7/8/09

Its a Boy

2008-08-09T07:41:00.000-07:00

Vital Stats

Name: John William Gehl

DOB 7/31/2008

Weight: 8lbs 6oz

Lenght: 21.75 inches

Weekend Update

2008-04-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

We actually did some fun stuff last weekend.

Friday: Through work I hooked up a "Behind the Scenes" pass to the Milwaukee Public Museum. We got to tour the IMAX projection area and the see where and how the planetarium shows are created. Pretty cool computer and audio gear there. Also we went to different departments and saw some the places where museum types do their work and the stuff they are working on. Again pretty neat stuff. Dinner was at a new place called "Triskele's" once we found it. Nice and reasonable priced dinner.

Saturday: Rode the 'Tosa Trails" for a short time. Contrary to popular belief I thought they were still too wet. After 30 minutes the SASS was covered in mud and had not fallen once. Went home to get the Blue Bike ready for Sunday.

Saturday Continued:
Please don't try this at home. The Puppetry of the Penis. There are no puppets. There are 2 blokes who stand in front of the theater full of people bare ass naked ('cept for a pair of Chucks) and do origami with their johnsons. They perform a series of "Dick Tricks" the show begs many questions not the least of which "Who thought this was a good idea?" and "Why would you do that?" and also "Doesn't that hurt?".

Sunday: After Saturdays entertainment, I should have gotten right to church on Sunday morning. Well I was having a religious experience f sorts. The first real mountain bike ride of the season. A bunch of Benders gathered at Blue to ride some of the best trails around, We rode for nearly 3 hours when all was said and done. Weather was perfect. 60's and sunny. It really does not get any better.

All in all a decent weekend, I don't need a repeat on the pee pee party but I won't get enough of trail riding.

On the edge of Gichigami

2008-04-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend the Red Haired Girl and I decided to skip town for a couple of days and headed north. Riding was out of the question as we fought our way through what ended being about 8 inches of April Snow.

Not having a plan we ventured even further north on Saturday. Went to the edge of Gichigami. We made it to Bayfield for lunch overlooking the Madeline Island Ferry landing. After a lunch of mighty fine burgers we went in search of "cute shopping"

Turns out most (not all, most) of the cute shopping is closed for the season. We perused some junk shops. Found a gallery or two, had a decent cup of organic coffee and were on our way with a promise to return when the days were warmer and the shopping more plentiful.

On the way there I had seen this, think old stuff like this is pretty cool I stopped for a closer look on our return trip. This is an old ore dock built in 1916 in Ashland Wi. When it use it was 1000 ft long and was used for filling ore ships (as the name suggests). It is endangered of being torn down. The lawyers are concerned that some poor schmuck will be messing around and get hurt. While it really serves no purpose other than being iconic of Norther Wisconsin's Mining heritage it is a pretty neat and unmistakable landmark in Ashland Wi and the poor schmuck who messes around there be damned.

The Cross Project

2008-04-17T19:08:00.001-07:00

After spending most of the winter as parts in the bike room the cross project is finally on the road. My cross project started life in The Rusty Tool Shed, I was looking for a bike for the Red Haired Girl. I normally ride a 53 or a 54 so I thought maybe a 56 would fit her. And if not it was for sale at a hell of a price. So with a wad of Jacksons in my pocket I took this beauty off his hands

After a ride we came to the conclusion that the Red Haired Girl is not a 56 and neither am I. I was going to eBay the whole thing. But got to thinking......hmmm...It really would be a sin to profit from the sale of this bike...(OK its not but work with me here). I checked Ebay and other online sources and finaaly came to a solution.

52CM GUNNAR CROSSHAIRS CYCLOCROSS FRAME VERY NICE!! on eBay from a nice gentleman in Alabama that did even ride it to church. I bought the frame, stripped the above bike and screwed the parts on to the correct sized frame, added a carbon fork, a few other bits here and there and ended up with.

And I may even cross race it.

Opening Day

2008-04-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

I have never been to opening day, much less paid for Brewer tix.Scored a nicce pair o tix off craigslist. Should be a nice day for a game.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

2008-03-27T20:35:00.001-07:00

Thumbs Up Baby!

Can you tell?

2008-03-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

Based on this video of the her 20 week ultrasound Amy is pretty sure she knows what sex this baby is, We don't oficially know. We asked the doc not to tell us. She watched this video frame by frame and thinks she sees something. I'll let you all know in late July if she was correct.

Approaching Ludicrous Speed

2008-03-11T21:04:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I headed north with the Red Haired Girl, my buddy Feedbags and his son Nic. The idea was to do one last weekend of snowmobiling. Nic's sled was in the shop for repair. His father not wanting to leave the boy behind borrowed a sled for the weekend so Nic could ride.

The sled was a 2003 (or so) Yamaha RX1. This has the nice fast smooth quiet 150hp 4 stroke engine in it. No oil no stink. However popping the hood on this thing reveled that the machine was not quite stock. It has a Simons CPR turbo kit in it. All I can say is "Holy Crap" I took this machine for a run across an open lake. At 80mph I punched it, the track spun, then the studs hooked up and pulled the skis off the ice. The fastest I saw was 109. I ran out of stones long before it ran out of speed. Feedbags on a lake run found 129mph. Says it still had more to go. Yikes.

The News from Lake Wobegon

2008-02-13T19:17:00.000-08:00

I have not posted to this thing for a while....So here goes a mass dumping of what been up for the last 6 weeks or so.

For V Day Amy surprised me with a trip to Minneapolis - St Paul. She told me nothing other than we were going somewhere and not to pack more then 3oz of fluids in my bag. We are flying somewhere.

We arrived at Gen Mitchell Intl airport 45 minutes before getting on a standby flight. My fault as usual. I found that flying standby entitles you to special selection going through security. SSSS Status it seems. That slowed up down a bit.

Other than having my then clean undies aired in public we got there and to the hotel with no other excitement. Amy booked us at The St Paul Hotel. All I can say is wow. They had a 55 year old scotch in the bar ($500/oz) no I did not have any.

We bummed around on Sat morning. We had breakfast at Mickies Diner. If you have seen the PHC movie this is the place where the opening and closing of the movie took place. A heart attack waiting to happen but also quite nice. it is a small greasy Art Deco diner car restaurant.

After we wandered downtown St Paul. We found Hermie's Haberdashery. A very upscale mens store as the name suggest with a neat old timey barber shop. I got a hot towel shave. Guys if you have never had one of these it is something you must experience. Hot towels, foam and a straight razor. Just like Grandpa used to do it.

If you re a fan of A Prairie Home Companion you must someday see the show. It is exactly like it sounds. if you have seen the move it is exactly like the movie shows it. With the exception of the ghost.

We left St Paul on Sunday and flew home. Funny how we were once again randomly selected SSSS for SSSSpecial SSSScreening. This time it worked in our favor. Got us through the line much quicker.

Snow

2008-02-06T19:35:00.001-08:00

Over the weekend I parked the fleet on the balcony so I could clean out "The Bike Room". It snowed around 12 - 14 inches today. Some fell on the fleet. Looks kinda' cool.

Gunnar Crosshairs For Sale or Trade

2008-02-01T11:33:00.000-08:00

Gunnar Crosshairs 56cm
Reynolds 856 tubeset

as pictured
- Cane Creek C2 headset
- Gunnar matching Fork
- Ritchey stem
- shimano 105 BB
It has been ridden extensively but is in decent shape.

contact mmgehl@sbcglobal.net / 262 707 5877
$425 or whatcha' got for trade?

Stuff I need
29er Wheelset New or nearly new
Burley kid trailer

The Purple Goat has Landed

2008-02-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

I ordered the Purple Goat in August - after sone back and forth I decided to have it custom painted. I thought a deep candy purple with hot rod flames would look cool. I discussed the paint scheme with the painter dude. Alrighty then once he has the frame it is a couple of weeks and I should have the finished product in hand. The painter received the frame around the end of September. Keep in mind that its Febuary 1 today. I checked about once a month on the status. I try not be a PITA, I understand that custom work can take time.

Every month I hear "just a couple more weeks..." I let the couple weeks pass and then a coupleple more and check back.

then

Only a week or 2, its purple now just got to paint the flames.....

a month passes

Got the flames on it just need to clear coat it......

more time passes and yesterday I got am email from the builder. Its back in thier hands and it stunning. I cant wait to see it. Oh and yeah the painter got his hands on a decal do you won't be getting the the fancy bronze headbadge. Arrgggg....

The decal is clear coated onver so we cant just peel it off. Oh well it sill look good. See the pic's. I should have it in my hands in the next week or so, then I can start the build process.