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Bridge in the fog by Lord Nikon 12, on Flickr

Did a short 7 mile ride on the Cervelo. Managed to drop 7+ seconds off several PRs. The Cervelo just feels so fast and responsive after riding the DeSalvo and Calfee the last few rides.

Winds down here have been 20 mph with gusts even higher. I decided to meet Jp and drink a couple of beers instead.

^ Your pictures are not exactly helping my wallet here.

This was last night, but close enough. I had dinner with Claire, my five siblings, and their spouses. It was fun and raucus with lots of loud personalities involved. One brother started off the gift-giving, or re-giving, with a long story about realizing that morning that he hadn't thought of a present and set out to find suitable re-gifting options. Whiskey Stones were the first thing he thought of because he got those for Christmas and doesn't drink whiskey. The obvious next step was finding that bottle of single malt that somebody gave him long ago that was still in the box. Well, the fact the box was falling apart was a hint that it might not be pristine, and inside turned out to be a half-empty bottle appropriated by his kids at some point that he gave to me anyway: Next up, one sister gave me one of these self-monitoring Jawbone things she got at a conference recently. She didn't really think I would use it but thinks I am more tech-y and therefore more likely to try it. Claire may do so, although the aforementioned brother had an even fancier model on his wrist and wears it all the time. One brother had no present (and I was glad because he has no money to spend on me) and another brother gave me one of those tattoo sleeves so I wore that the rest of the night to intimidate the waiters. I'm sure that was lying around their house, but he didn't make a big speech. Lastly, my other sister gave me real presents that she bought for me in Cuba last week (professor exchange trip). There are a couple of Cuban CDs, one of the lame band she saw at a bar (including No Woman No Cry and a salsa version of Let It Be) and one of a hip jazz combo. The main present was the awesome mojito glass with recipe and muddler from La Bodeguita del Medio, the bar where Hemmingway hung out. The muddler has a reproduction of his note to La BdelM on it. Cute touristy and Cuban. The Che hat is really hers although my other sister who re-gifted that Jawbone thing was shaming her into giving me the hat, and she apparently slipped it into the bag. I'm giving it back. Anyway, that's my nutty family in a nutshell.

^^ I'll confess that I didn't read those articles but I'll share my one piece of advice - consider getting what your shooting buddies have, so you can share lenses, etc. I bought into Nikon, and I love it, but all my buddies ended up with Canons, so I was never able to share stuff.